With a suit pending in federal court to consider the constitutionality of the state's new immigration law, Alabama's Attorney General has asked the judge to move the case to state court to interpret the state's religious freedom amendment. Religious leaders claim the law – which bans giving aid or assistance to undocumented immigrants – impedes the ability of residents to live out their faith, in violation of religious liberty protections. At least one attorney for the plaintiffs believes this means the state knows it's in trouble.
“This suggests to me they know they have significant issues with this act and the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution,” which also guarantees religious freedom, one of the Episcopal Diocese’s attorneys, Augusta Dowd, said today in a phone interview.
“I read their filing to acknowledge they do believe it to be illegal” under federal law. The federal court has jurisdiction to decide a constitutional question and the case should not be moved to an Alabama court to be considered under the Alabama Constitution, she said.
According to the Montgomery Advertiser, church leaders have amended their suit to remove reference to the state constitution in response to this filing. A hearing is set for August 24.
