On Monday Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita announced he’ll appeal a judge’s dismissal of his immigration-related lawsuit against St. Joseph County Sheriff Bill Redman. On Thursday Rokita’s deputy came to South Bend for a press conference to discuss their appeal.
Rokita’s assistant chief deputy, Blake Lanning, spoke with reporters at the County-City Building. Their suit alleges Redman has had a policy or practice of prohibiting his staff from notifying federal immigration enforcement when undocumented immigrants land in the jail, and that that violates Indiana’s so-called Sanctuary Law.
Lanning said the General Assembly amended the law last year specifically to empower the attorney general to enforce it, because previously it only allowed private entities to sue.
But St. Joseph Superior Judge Jenny Pitts Manier agreed with Redman that the attorney general lacks standing to bring the case. Lanning said she’s the first judge to make such a ruling in Indiana.
”The idea that an enforcement agency like the attorney general does not have authority to enforce a statute that the General Assembly has said we have the authority to enforce, it’s just squarely at odds with the vast weight of authority in federal courts and state courts," Lanning said.
Lanning said it will likely be a couple months before the sides file their arguments with the Indiana Court of Appeals.
