A judge Wednesday threw out a lawsuit filed by a Los Angeles resident who wanted to repeal a long-standing LAPD order that restricts when police officers may ask people about their immigration status.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Rolf M. Treu, granting a motion from the city and the American Civil Liberties Union, said Harold Sturgeon had failed to prove that Special Order 40 was in conflict with federal and state laws that dictate the flow of information between local and federal agencies regarding people's immigration status.
Sturgeon sued the LAPD in 2006 in an effort to overturn the nearly 3-decade-old order, which prohibits officers from detaining someone solely for the purpose of determining whether he or she is in the country illegally. The order, implemented in 1979 by then-police Chief Daryl F. Gates, is aimed at encouraging illegal immigrants to assist police in cases by ensuring them that their cooperation will not put them at risk.
Sturgeon acknowledged he had no personal experience with the order, but instead brought the lawsuit as a city taxpayer, who argued that his taxes were being used to further an illegal endeavor.
"We're very pleased," said Hector Villagra, an ACLU director, after the ruling. For decades, "the Police Department has struck an important balance between public safety and the enforcement of federal immigration law. It has tried to maintain an equilibrium that would allow undocumented witnesses and victims of crime to feel confident that they can come to the police. . . . That balance has been upheld today."
In court papers, Sturgeon's lawyers called Special Order 40 "essentially a 'don't ask, don't tell' policy regarding illegal aliens." They tried to persuade Treu that the LAPD policy unlawfully restricted officers' ability to share information with federal immigration officials -- a claim that city and ACLU attorneys rebutted.
The judge rejected the gambit, saying the order did not prohibit LAPD officers from communicating with federal authorities. Paul Orfanedes, an attorney for Judicial Watch, the group that argued the case for Sturgeon, said he was "disappointed" with the ruling but declined to say whether he expected his client to pursue an appeal.
Wednesday's ruling had a particularly far-reaching effect because scores of police departments across the country have followed the LAPD in implementing similar policies.
