U.S. Justice Department Claims South Carolina Immigration Law UnConstitutional

The Obama Administration filed a lawsuit on November 1, 2001 claiming that a South Carlina law requiring immigrants to carry a certificate of registration and that gives law enforcement agents with reasonable suspicion the authority to determine whether a person is legally in the country is unconstitutional.

The law is set to take effect January 1, 2012. The Justice Department contends that only the federal government has jurisdiction over immigration policy. South Carolina governor Nikki Haley who in June signed into law the state legislature’s Act No.69 said, “This state can no longer afford those who don’t come here the right way and we are now going to do something about it.” For the full article, please click on the link below:

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-11-01/south-carolina-immigration-law-challenged-by-u-s-in-lawsuit.html

For students in U.S. Constitution and American Society, please respond to the following question: Do you think that this South Carolina law is unconstitutional? Please refer to the text of the Constitution to support your answer.

The Wrong Inequality

David Brooks wrote an interesting piece in the New York Times, The Opinion Pages on Novemeber 1, 2011. His argument is that there are two types of inequality in the United States today. He calls them the red and the blue inequality. For the most part, Brooks contends, the media tends to focus on the blue inequality, which concerns the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans becoming much wealthier than the bottom 99 percent. This type of inequality has formed the foundation of the “Occupy Wall Street” protest. The red inequality has commanded much less attention; it deals with the great economic and social divide between those who graduate from college and those who do not. The differences are startling! Please click on the link below to read Brooks’ piece:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/01/opinion/brooks-the-wrong-inequality.html?hp

Of course, if the message here is that Americans must go to college and get their degree, then it must be read alongside the fact that college costs have skyrocketed over the last generation. This reality makes the red inequality much more pronounced because only those who can afford to go to college will do so. The rest will be left behind unless dramatic changes occur. This also means that the blue inequality about which Brooks writes will become exacerbated as well.

In any case, please comment on the Brook’s opinion piece or any other portion of this post.