Saturday, May 01, 2010

The States' Concurrent Jurisdiction & "Illegals"

Some have claimed that the new Arizona "anti-illegal-immigrant" law is unconstitutional as the Federal (And unenforced) relevant laws preempt State jurisdiction. That is a false claim.

My State (Wisconsin) has laws punishing: Robbery (eg Of banks); Possession of a short-barreled (Sawed off) rifle or shotgun; Possession of a firearm by a felon; And, other and very serious crimes. The US Code also provides for the prosecution of "Bank Robbery" and the other crimes noted above. Offenders may be charged and tried for those offenses in either State or Federal (Or both) Courts. The penalties for State and Federal violations may be different.

I do not know of any person convicted in Wisconsin courts of those crimes who "beat the State rap" by claiming that the Federal laws preempt prosecution by the State.

The Arizona law merely asserts "concurrent jurisdiction" with the Federal government and Federal laws with differing penalties as is not uncommon in such matters.

Honesty in discussing Arizona's law demands the presentation of the above!

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