Goddard withdraws as lawyer in immigration suits

by Ginger Rough -
June 18, 2010 03:35 PM
The Arizona Republic

Attorney General Terry Goddard has decided not to represent the state in any lawsuits related to Senate Bill 1070, Arizona's tough new immigration law.

Goddard sent a letter to Gov. Jan Brewer on Friday, formally recusing himself from the state's defense team.

The attorney general's letter to Gov. Brewer

In the letter and a subsequent press release, he said his decision was based on the desire to avoid a "costly and distracting fight" over the issue of legal representation.

Goddard is referring to an ongoing spat between him and Brewer over who is best suited to represent the state in the suits.

The governor sent a letter to Goddard on Monday, formally asking him to step aside, saying his previously state opposition to the immigration bill gave him a conflict of interest in the case.

She has already hired outside counsel from the Phoenix law firm Snell & Wilmer to defend her in the suits. She is named as a defendant in four of the five cases.

Goddard, meanwhile, had maintained that the governor's move to remove him from the defense was an infringement on his rights as attorney general.

But he hinted in an interview with The Republic earlier this week that he might step aside anyway, saying that Brewer was making it impossible for the state to mount a cooperative defense.

Goddard reiterated that stance on Friday, and said his decision was based primarily on the letter Brewer sent him on Monday.

"It is unfortunate that you have chosen to reject that cooperative effort and seek to score partisan political points by threatening to challenge my authority as Attorney General to defend our State in court," Goddard wrote.

The governor's office said Friday that Brewer was "pleased that the Attorney General has changed his position again and recognized that he has a conflict in defending SB 1070."

The ongoing verbal jarring could be a preview of this fall's general election for governor. Brewer, a Republican who is seeking her first full-term in the state's highest elected office, appears to be leading her GOP challengers in the Republican primary, according to recent polling.

Goddard, a Democrat, is running unopposed, and is considered the presumptive Democratic nominee for office.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/election/ ... nding.html