A few days ago the Supreme Court heard arguments on the constitutionality of a controversial Arizona law (SB 1070) that allows police to question anyone stopped for violations -- including motor vehicle and driving infractions -- about their immigration status.   One of the important arguments presented by opponents of the law centered on the probability that among those stopped a disproportionate number would be minorities, selected on the basis of preconceived assumptions about the ethnicity and English language skills of illegal immigrants. In a Washington Post opinion piece on the legality of this provision in the Arizona law, Judge Arthur Hunter, Jr. examines a relevant question.  When a somewhat similar case had come before his court several years ago in Louisiana, he had asked the arresting police officer just what exactly had caused him to suspect that this individual was in the country illegally?  To clarify what he was after, the Judge posed that question...(Read Full Post)