July 31, 2010

BY SEAN HOLSTEGE
U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton received hundreds of threats at her court offices within hours of her ruling last week on Arizona's tough and controversial immigration law.

"She has been inundated," said U.S. Marshal David Gonzales, indicating his agents are taking some seriously. "About 99.9 percent of the inappropriate comments are people venting. They are exercising their First Amendment rights, and a lot of it is perverted. But it's that 0.1 percent that goes over the line that we are taking extra seriously."

Bolton put on hold key provisions, including the heart of the statute that would give police the authority to check a suspect's immigration status during routine stops if there was reasonable suspicion that the suspect was in the country illegally. Her decision also blocks sections of the law that would require documented immigrants to carry their registration papers.

She agreed with the Obama administration that the Arizona law was unconstitutional because legal immigrants and U.S. citizens "will necessarily be swept up" by it.

Last year, the Arizona Republic reported that the number of threats nationwide against federal judges and prosecutors, plus jurors and witnesses, more than doubled in the last six years, from 592 to nearly 1,300. Gonzales indicated at the time that the federal judges in Arizona get three to four threats a week.

The increase in threats coincides with more online use and the proliferation of blogs, he said. A quick scan shows many sites and discussion forums where Bolton is called a traitor or other, unprintable names.

"She's tough as nails. She takes this as all part of her job," Gonzales said.

Bolton was nominated to the U.S. District Court by President Bill Clinton in 2000 at the recommendation of Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), who said he was "deeply disappointed" by her ruling.
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Gannett News Service