Sen. Rogers has sponsored and introduced SB1379, which jacks up the criminal penalty for anyone who assists an “unlawful alien” from a Class 1 Misdemeanor to a Class 6 Felony. The purpose, I suppose, is to taint people with a felony conviction, which carries a lot more collateral consequences than a misdemeanor. Though, as a former prosecutor, I can tell you that there is very little difference in actual direct penalties, and the Felony is frequently waived down to a Misdemeanor on F6 charges to facilitate plea negotiations. So the enhancement is largely bunk in actual practice.
But here is where the ‘pointless’ and ‘performative’ part comes in: the Senate Fact Sheet points out that the statute to be ‘enhanced’ with a greater penalty is enjoined from enforcement because it is unconstitutionally vague and conflicts with Federal Law.
“In Valle del Sol Inc. v Whiting, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a preliminary injunction against A.R.S. § 13-2929 granted by the U.S. District Court of Arizona. In its ruling, the court concluded that the statute as written is void for vagueness under the Due Process Clause and that the statute is preempted by federal law and therefore invalid under the Supremacy Clause (Valle del Sol Inc. v. Whiting, 732 F.3d 1006 (9th Cir. 2013)).”
Sen. Roger’s bill does NOTHING to correct the flawed statute. It only enhances the enjoined penalty. Purely racist performance art.
Her bill won’t accomplish ANYTHING. It is meant only to flagrantly fling some juicy red meat at her base. But her white nationalist fascy fans will be pig-ignorant that it is actually not meat at all, but a lab-grown, plant-based, meat substitute that provides no real satisfaction of their atavistic urge to attack anyone and anything associated with immigration.
Either the Senator is utterly clueless that her bill accomplishes nothing, or she’s purposefully deceiving even her own racist supporters. Now that’s a depth of dishonesty and cynicism that is really hard to overstate. Or she’s just a moron. You choose.
