AZ Supreme Court Chief Justice: Quit saying 'illegal aliens'

WorldNetDaily: Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice Ruth McGregor stirred up a hornet's nest by endorsing a demand from the Hispanic Bar Association to censor words and phrases such as "illegal aliens" and "illegal immigrants" and substitute "foreign nationals" in court documents. When a blog at Judicial Watch reported on the instructions, court officials threatened to sue the government-watchdog organization, prompting its release of a statement defending the story. The original report said the chief justice had agreed to forward to judges the Hispanic Bar's demands to alter the language in court opinions and documents. . . .

Judicial Watch said, "In a strongly worded letter to the chief justice, Los Abogados' [Hispanic Bar Association] president says attaching an illegal status to a person establishes a brand of contemptibility, creates the appearance of anti-immigrant prejudice and tarnishes the image of courts as a place where disputes may be fairly resolved." The letter, according to Judicial Watch, criticized the state's high court for using the term "illegals" in at least two opinions and the term "illegal aliens" in dozens of others. Judicial Watch said the letter concludes with a list of acceptable and unacceptable terms relating to illegal immigration.. Among the terms the group wants banned are "immigration crisis,' "immigration epidemic,' "open borders advocates", "anchor babies" and "invaders." Acceptable terms are "foreign nationals," "unauthorized workers" and "human rights advocates" . . . . The report almost immediately was followed with a response from the court, Judicial Watch reported. "The Arizona Supreme Court has threatened to sue Judicial Watch for revealing that its chief justice agreed to enforce a Hispanic Bar Association demand to ban the terms 'illegal' and 'aliens' in all of the state’s courtrooms," the organization said . . . . [Court: Quit saying 'illegal aliens']

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Tags: Arizona, free speech, illegal aliens, illegal immigration, judicial activism, Judicial Watch, AZ, Supreme Court, SCOTUS To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!