CCR Attorney Legal Observer Arrested in Arizona Immigration Protests

Contact: press@ccrjustice.org

July 29, 2010, New York and Phoenix – This afternoon, CCR Attorney Sunita Patel was arrested as she was carrying out her legal observer duties at a protest of Arizona’s unconstitutional immigration law, SB 1070. As police began a sweep, Ms. Patel began to take down names of those being arrested and was promptly arrested herself. Witnesses say legal observers were deliberately targeted by police.

Said CCR Legal Director Bill Quigley, “Arresting a young woman of color who is there as an attorney observer demonstrates how irresponsible and un-American the Arizona action is. I fear Arizona is starting to act like Mississippi in the civil rights days.”

Sunita Patel is also an attorney representing NDLON in its FOIA case against ICE seeking records about the Secure Communities program.

 

The Center for Constitutional Rights is dedicated to advancing and protecting the rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Founded in 1966 by attorneys who represented civil rights movements in the South, CCR is a non-profit legal and educational organization committed to the creative use of law as a positive force for social change.