The Arizona legislature needs to clear up and codify definitions of “lawful contact” and “reasonable suspicion”. It’s far more important for the former to have a clear definition, and they need to do it quickly to shut up the people swearing that cops will just walk up to Hispanic people (presumably walking their dog or taking their kids for ice cream) and ask for their “papers” (please say ID…no one actually has “papers”).

Absent some clearly defined “lawful contact”, asking for ID would probably constitute an unreasonable search, and would be un-Constitutional. Also, don’t forget the law prohibits an investigation into someone’s immigration status “if the determination may hinder or obstruct an investigation”…so if it would cause someone to think twice about reporting a crime or providing evidence, they can’t check.

See the text here: http://www.keytlaw.com/blog/2010/04/anti-illegal-immigration-law-part-1/