Limbaugh Dismisses DOJ Civil Rights Abuse Hotline As A “Tattle-Tale Line”
Written by Emily Arrowood
Published
Attacking a Department of Justice hotline for potential civil rights abuses in Arizona, Rush Limbaugh declared that reporters of such abuses are merely “tattle-tales” or “criminals” who “can now snitch out law enforcement.” But the potential civil rights concerns over the law - especially concerns about racial profiling - are very real.
Although the Supreme Court struck down most of SB1070, Arizona's controversial immigration law, it allowed the so-called “show me your papers” provision to go into effect. In an effort to keep tabs on potential racial profiling abuses, the federal government launched a hotline and email address where people can report potential civil rights concerns.
Limbaugh labeled the hotline a “tattle-tale line,” created so that “ticked-off, sniveling little liberals” “can call and rat out Arizona law-enforcement officials to Barack Obama.” He went on to address Arizona residents:
LIMBAUGH: When your police and your sheriff departments try to do their jobs, left-wing lawyers stand ready to bury your bogus law suits, at the request and the behest of Barack Obama. This hotline, this email address, is criminalizing the enforcement of the law.
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What this is all about is the presumption that law enforcement does nothing but profile. And they're gonna profile. And who gets to decide whether it's profiling or not? A former ACLU lawyer, former La Raza lawyer at the Department of Justice?
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Criminals can now snitch out law enforcement, folks. Barack Obama has sided with people who are on the other side of the law.
In reality, racial profiling concerns over Arizona's immigration law are legitimate.
Legal experts and law enforcement officers agreed that the law could encourage racial profiling, as race and socioeconomic class stereotypes may be relied upon to establish reasonable suspicion. Even the Supreme Court suggested that the so-called “show me your papers” provision may later be found unconstitutional. The legal experts at SCOTUSblog explained:
Section 2(B) of the law requires the police to check the immigration status of persons whom they arrest before releasing them. It also allows the police to stop and arrest anyone suspected of being an undocumented immigrant. The Court held that the lower courts were wrong to prevent this provision from going into effect while its lawfulness is being litigated. It was not sufficiently clear that the provision would be held preempted, the Court held. The Court took pains to point out that the law, on its face, prohibits stops based on race or national origin and provides that the stops must be conducted consistent with federal immigration and civil rights laws. However, it held open that the provision could eventually be invalidated after trial.
What's more, a federal hotline to report potential civil rights abuses from a state immigration law is not unprecedented. A nearly identical hotline was introduced in October of 2011 when the Alabama immigration law was enacted.