Judge bans “illegal” and “aliens” from courtroom

By Michelle Malkin  •  November 7, 2008 10:33 AM

Prediction: It won’t be long before this is an official Obama policy as well.

La Raza powers…activate:

Arizona’s Supreme Court Justice has agreed to enforce the Hispanic Bar Association’s demands of banning the terms “illegal” and “aliens” in all of the state’s courtrooms.

Claiming that the terms are inflammatory, the president of Arizona’s Hispanic Bar Association, (known as Los Abogados) has asked state Supreme Court Chief Justice Ruth McGregor to stop using them at trials or hearings because they create perceptions of judicial bias.

In a strongly worded letter to the chief justice, Los Abogados’ 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.

It further points out that no human being is illegal and that a national Hispanic journalism association has roundly criticized the reference for dehumanizing a segment of the population. The letter goes on to criticize the state’s High Court for using the term “illegals” in at least two opinions and the term “illegal aliens” in dozens of others.

It concludes with a list of acceptable and unacceptable terms relating to illegal immigration. Among those the group wants banned are; immigration crisis, immigration epidemic, open borders advocates, anchor babies and invaders. Among the acceptable terms are foreign nationals, unauthorized workers and human rights advocates.

Here’s the banned words list via Judicial Watch:

~ For the latest breaking news, be sure to join Michelle's e-mail list ~
Posted in: Immigration

See what others have said

Note from Michelle: This section is for comments from michellemalkin.com's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that I agree with or endorse any particular comment just because I let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with my terms of use may lose his or her posting privilege.

Comments


  1. #101
    On November 7th, 2008 at 4:34 pm, Freddy said:

    This is simply a case of a court overstepping its bounds. Federal law trumps state law. This court cannot change federal immigration laws, and those laws in fact use these terms.

    Changing federal law is outside of the jurisdiction of this court, no matter how important they think they are.

  2. #102
    On November 7th, 2008 at 4:47 pm, Lee Hazel said:

    Does the use of any of the banned terms trigger a “Hate Crime” offense under civil rights laws? What is next, use of these terms outside the courtroom is…what?

    PC is Thought Control
    LEE
    This is a good example!

  3. #103
    On November 7th, 2008 at 5:29 pm, love2rumba said:

    thought control hard at work…

  4. #104
    On November 7th, 2008 at 6:01 pm, Gregor said:

    Banning the word “illegal” = Expected

    Seeing an add for “sexy & hot Russian girls” on the side-bar of Michelle Malkin’s website = Unexpected

  5. #105
    On November 7th, 2008 at 6:19 pm, frontierguy said:

    It is funny that open border Hispanic groups are quick to point out that not all illegals are hispanics, but when terms like illegal alien is used they are the first ones there to protest.

  6. #106
    On November 7th, 2008 at 6:33 pm, Leatherneck said:

    I just preformed another ultrasound exam on an illegal alien looking to have an anchor baby.

    Mexico should be sued for the hospital cost. When the patient is fit to travel, she should be deported along with all the other illegal aliens.

    A five ton with water, and MRE’s can carry a lot of illegal aliens.

  7. #107
    On November 7th, 2008 at 6:47 pm, Elm Creek Smith said:

    On November 7th, 2008 at 12:28 pm, Red State Skeptic said:

    Another outright false post by Red State Skeptic. Ruth McGregor is the Chief Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court. She sent the list to the other justices and all the judges in the Arizona Courts of Appeal. How long do you think it will take for judges all the way down the line to get the hint that use of “them words” will get a ruling overturned?

    Talk to me when it happens. No matter your surmise, every word I have said is the truth, whereas MM’s title is a bald-faced lie.

    Your naivete is cute. If you think it won’t happen, you don’t know how the judicial system works. MM’s title is accurate, every word. Your words? No so much.

    ECS

  8. #108
    On November 7th, 2008 at 6:54 pm, rktkr said:

    KTAR radio in phx, az. just reported that this story is wrong, that the judge has said she never made such a ruling, and that she only told the group that she would pass the request along.

    imagine that.

    MM, you got some kind of power, girl.

  9. #109
    On November 7th, 2008 at 6:56 pm, rktkr said:

    jeez.. you already got the word… doh!

  10. #110
    On November 7th, 2008 at 7:26 pm, airbrush101 said:

    I can’t help but picture John Belushi and his buddys from “Animal House” sitting in a court room, while concealing their mouths, sayin..

    “Cough**Illegal**Cough”.

  11. #111
    On November 7th, 2008 at 9:15 pm, madmonkphotog said:

    Federal lawsuit.

  12. #112
    On November 7th, 2008 at 9:48 pm, bedje said:

    Felon=Person on the wrong path that had it “rough” growing up.

    Prisoner=Person being held in captivity (with cable, weight rooms, game rooms and three squares a day) that was wrongly accused. Ref: See felon.

  13. #113
    On November 8th, 2008 at 12:25 pm, AniMEL said:

    Oh, gag me. Gag me with a sharp instrument. This is the state I live in, frag nabbit! Why wasn’t this judge’s name on the ballot for potential removal?!?

    Thank you, Warren Court, for screwing up our criminal justice system to the point that we’re picking apart the terms used in a courtroom…

  14. #114
    On November 8th, 2008 at 12:52 pm, robhic said:

    So wait a minute. If someone has snuck into this country without permission, that’s ILLEGAL, right?

    And if said person isn’t a US citizen, then they are an ALIEN, right?

    So calling a border-jumper illegal and alien is technically correct.

    If you don’t like the terms, well just stay in your own country and don’t come here illegally.

    PROBLEM SOLVED!

  15. #115
    On November 8th, 2008 at 5:02 pm, MNUSMCDavid said:

    Okay you’re not illegal and you’re not an alien… you’re a stinking invader and hostile entity.

  16. #116
    On November 9th, 2008 at 2:21 am, conservative in europe said:

    If any of you have the chance to look at the current version of the Green Card, you will notice that the word “alien” is not on it. Anywhere.

    Mr. Clinton did that in ’96.

    It just says “Permanent Resident”.

    One of those words is true, the other shouldn’t be.

  17. #117
    On November 9th, 2008 at 8:05 am, regalo99 said:

    Let’s just eradicate the term illegal from the language all together. Why not completely twist the truth altogether? After all, no one, and soon, apparently, nothing, is/will be illegal!

    Illegal= “unfortunate”
    Theft= “borrowing”
    Murder= “accident”
    Assault and battery= “playful love taps”

    Soften the language to soften the law. Eradicate the language of the law, and we eradicate the law itself.

  18. #118
    On November 9th, 2008 at 3:42 pm, nlebou said:

    This does not surprise me. Didn’t I hear something a few months ago about not being able to use the word RAPE in a RAPE trial?

  19. #119
    On November 14th, 2008 at 1:00 pm, Dimsdale said:

    I did’t see “foreign invaders” or “parasites” on the list.

You must be logged in to post a comment.


Follow me on Twitter Follow me on Facebook