Dean Johnson Comments on Supreme Court Case for California Lawyer
Dean Kevin R. Johnson commented for California Lawyer on the pending U.S. Supreme Court decision in Chamber of Commerce of the United States v. Whiting. The article examines laws passed by three California cities requiring employers to check the immigration status of potential employees using the federal E-Verify system. Dean Johnson commented on the potential impacts on such laws of Whiting, in which the Court is deciding whether a state can require employers to participate in the E-Verify system.
"Depending on the Court's decision, we will probably see a lot more challenges to these ordinances," says Johnson. "An unprecedented number of state and local bodies have tried to pass their own immigration laws in the last decade, but it's a burning controversy whether they have the jurisdiction to do so. This case gives the Court the opportunity to finally give us some guidance."
Kevin R. Johnson is Dean and Mabie-Apallas Professor of Public Interest Law and Chicana/o studies at UC Davis School of Law. He is an internationally recognized scholar in the fields of immigration law and policy, refugee law, and civil rights.