The following news story, attributed to Arizona Republic reporter Mary Jo Pitzl, was printed on pages B1 and B5 of the Thursday, 27 December 2007 edition of the Arizona Republic.
STATE FIGHTING SANCTIONS SUIT
Officals Seek To Deny Shielding Those Who Hired Illegally
A lawsuit challenging the state’s employer-sanctions law seeks
permission to keep private the names of up to three businesses that
admittedly have hired illegal workers.
The state Attorney General’s Office and Arizona’s 15 county attorneys
are fighting the attempt to keep the names secret.
They filed a motion Friday asking U.S. District Court Judge Neil Wake
to deny the business groups’ request to keep the names secret.
“A strong presumption exists in favor of openness in court
proceedings- -including identification of parties and witnesses by their
real names,” Attorney General Terry Goddard wrote in response to the
request for secrecy.
Anonymity is usually granted in cases where there is “highly sensitive”
or private information, such as in disputes involving abortion, mental
illness, children, birth control and religion, he wrote.
“Embarrassment or economic harm is not enough to justify anonymity,” he
contended.
Earlier this month, in a second challenge to the employer-sanctions
law, the business groups admitted they know employers who have illegal
workers on the payroll and intend not to comply with the sanctions law
when it takes effect Tuesday.
In addition, they said at least one such employer has been threatened
with prosecution by Maricopa County authorities.
Attorneys for the business groups asked Wake to allow them to file the
names under seal, meaning in secret, citing fear of retribution if the
names are publicly disclosed.
Revealing the names could subject the employers to prosecution under
federal law, the attorneys said, which already makes it illegal to hire
undocumented workers.
“The John Doe Members do not wish to invite prosecution of their
businesses and themselves under federal law by identifying themselves
in the state proceedings, ” attorneys David Selden and Louis Moffa Jr.
wrote in their request to keep the employer names confidential.
Besides, they added, public disclosure would intensify the “hate and
abuse” that has already been directed toward the business groups and
attorneys that argue the state law is unconstitutional. These groups
and individuals have received hate mail, been verbally abused and had
their patriotism questioned by Representative Russell Pearce,
Republican of Mesa, the attorneys wrote.
“It would be infinitely worse for any employer that would admit to
violating the Law,” they stated.
The introduction of “John Does” who employ illegal workers was done to
give the business groups grounds to bring a complaint to court, the
attorneys have said.
Pearce, the prime force behind the employer-sanctions law, objected to
the attempt to keep the names secret.
“This is so egregious,” he said. “We all know what’s going on:
They’re illegal employers.”
He said the sudden change of tune after years of employers saying they
don’t knowingly hire illegal workers is jarring and should have
consequences.
“They ought to be disbarred,” he said of the attorneys representing the
business groups.
The pleadings will be considered by Judge Wake as he prepares for a
January 16 hearing on the merits of the sanctions law.
Last week, Wake declined to block the law with a temporary restraining
order, clearing the way for it to go into effect.
The business and civil-rights groups fighting the law lost challenges
earlier this month to block it.
They have already filed appeals with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals
in San Francisco, but that court on Friday said that it would delay any
action until it sees the results of the January 16 hearing.
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