Move to halt jail immigration screenings suffers setback
Lawyer didn't have proper proof to ask for restraining order
Immigration attorney Elliott Ozment, left, talks with R. Andrew Free about a continuance of their hearing. / Larry McCormack / The Tennessean
Davidson County Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle said there wasn’t proper proof to grant an injunction. / Larry McCormack / The Tennessean
New statewide immigration screening rules may have temporarily survived a legal challenge on Wednesday, but the board that created them may attempt a do-over at its next meeting.
Immigration attorney Elliott Ozment had asked a Davidson County chancellor to halt rules that require Tennessee jailers to screen the newly arrested for their immigration status, arguing that the Tennessee Peace Officers Standards and Training Commission created the guidelines in emails, not public meetings as required by law. On Wednesday, Davidson County Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle told Ozment that he didn’t have the proper proof to ask for that temporary restraining order, but gave him more time to provide the proof.
“Under these circumstances, the court would have to deny the injunction,” Lyle said.
Revisiting issue
But an attorney for the training commission said that its upcoming meeting could change all that. Ben Whitehouse, an attorney with the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office, said the commission planned to revisit the immigration rules at its Jan. 13 meeting.
“They might decide to take an action that might render this (case) moot,” Whitehouse told the court.
Whitehouse later said that he wasn’t aware what action the commission might take, only that it was on the Jan. 13 agenda.
Ozment filed the suit in December, asking Lyle to suspend the rules. According to his complaint, the commission created the rules in secret via emails and didn’t seek input from the state’s sheriffs, whom he says are now financially burdened by the new procedures. He said the commission’s October 2010 meeting wasn’t properly publicized and that the new rules improperly add to the time it takes for suspects to be booked and released.
The Tennessee Coalition for Open Government has said that the commission is subject to the state’s open meetings laws.
While the judge dealt his case a temporary setback, she scheduled a new hearing for Feb. 3 so Ozment could properly address her evidence concerns. Ozment said he wasn’t disheartened by the ruling, particularly because the training commission is set to revisit the issue.
“I don’t consider it a setback at all because we’re very curious to see what the POST Commission does,” Ozment said after the hearing.
Contact Brian Haas at 615-726-8968 orbhaas@tennessean.com.
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