Alabama Will Seek State Supreme Court’s Opinion in Immigration Lawsuit
By Andrew Harris - Aug 10, 2011 6:48 PM ET

Alabama asked a U.S. judge to refer to the state’s highest court the question of how two provisions of its newly passed immigration law must be interpreted in light of a state constitution’s protection of religious freedom.

Governor Robert Bentley’s administration filed the request late yesterday with U.S. District Judge Sharon Lovelace Blackburn, chief judge of the Birmingham-based court, in a case challenging the law slated to take effect on Sept. 1.

Religious leaders, the U.S. government and a coalition of immigrant and labor organizations have sued to invalidate the law in a trio of cases now consolidated before Blackburn.

“A proper construction from the Supreme Court of Alabama may moot the entire litigation,â€