General
SCOTUS Brief: State of Arizona v United States of America (2012)
SCOTUS Brief in State of Arizona v United States of America
"The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (the “Conference”) is a nonprofit corporation, the members of which are the active Catholic Bishops in the United States. The Conference advocates and promotes the pastoral teachings of the U.S. Catholic Bishops in such diverse areas of the nation’s life as the free expression of ideas, the rights of religious organizations and their adherents, fair employment and equal opportunity for the underprivileged, protection of the rights of parents and children, the value of human life from conception to natural death, and care for immigrants and refugees.
First, the Conference has a strong interest in ensuring that courts adhere to two important goals of federal immigration law—the promotion of family unity and the protection of human dignity.
Second, and more generally, the Conference is acutely interested in protecting the religious liberty of Catholic and other religious institutions. The Catholic Church’s religious faith, like that of many religious denominations including those who join the Conference in this brief, requires it to offer charity— ranging from soup kitchens to homeless shelters—to all in need, whether they are present in this country legally or not. Yet S.B. 1070 and related state immigration laws have provisions that could either criminalize this charity, criminalize those who provide or even permit it...
In particular, the Conference is compelled to file this brief in support of the United States for two reasons. First, the Conference has a strong interest in ensuring that courts adhere to two important goals of federal immigration law—the promotion of family unity and the protection of human dignity."