Legal Momentum's Immigrant Women Program, in conjunction with Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP, has filed an amicus curiae brief in support of a lawsuit filed in Arizona federal court to block implementation of Arizona's notorious immigration law, Senate Bill 1070 (S.B. 1070). The lawsuit, Friendly House v. Whiting, was brought by the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union), MALDEF (the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund), the National Immigration Law Center and the Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center. Legal Momentum’s brief outlines key areas where Arizona’s new law undermines federal civil rights protections for immigrant women and their families, including those who are victims of violent crime.

WASHINGTON, D.C. and NEW YORK -- Legal Momentum, the nation's oldest legal advocacy organization dedicated to advancing women's rights, is deeply concerned by the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling today in Ricci v. DeStefano, a decision that will undermine the critical role of the country’s civil rights laws in the historic struggle of women and minorities to achieve equality in the workplace. The Court created a new, more stringent standard for employment discrimination claims in striking down the New Haven Fire Department’s attempt to ensure that its promotional exam did not discriminate against Black and Latino candidates. We believe that the standard articulated by the Court reflects a flawed interpretation of Title VII and is contrary to congressional intent.