SCOTUS Blog – Argument preview: State power over aliens

From the SCOTUS Blog:

Argument preview: State power over aliens

The Court takes up the issue of state authority to regulate the activities of illegal aliens in an Arizona case that is a prelude to an even more significant case on that issue.

Case Pages: Chamber of Com. v. Whiting

At 11 a.m. on Wednesday, the Supreme Court will hold a one-hour hearing on the authority of state governments to regulate the activities of non-citizens living illegally within their borders.  While this case from Arizona is important in its own right, testing an alien worker law, it could be even more significant as a prelude to a coming test case over an even more aggressive law, also enacted in Arizona.  The case of U.S. Chamber of Commerce v. Whiting, et al. (09-115) will be argued for the Chamber by Carter G. Phillips of Sidley Austin in Washington, sharing time with Acting U.S. Solicitor General Neal K. Katyal, speaking for the federal government as an amicus.  Representing Arizona will be the state Solicitor General, Mary R. O’Grady of Phoenix.  (The title of the case has changed since it was granted as U.S. Chamber of Commerce v. Candelaria, et al.)

The case will be heard by an eight-member Court; Justice Elena Kagan has recused from the case, presumably because of her former role as U.S. Solicitor General.

Background

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