By Jay F. Marks
Staff Writer
An appeals court is being asked to decide whether judges can question defendants about their residency status under the state's new immigration law.


Attorney Joan Lopez said Oklahoma County District Judge Jerry Bass forced two men to incriminate themselves Friday when he asked them if they were legal residents of the United States. Bass sent both men to jail when they acknowledged they were not in the country legally.

Lopez said the judge's questions violated the men's Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. She said Bass does not have the authority to inquire about their immigration status under the new state law that went into effect Nov. 1.

Lopez filed a writ Friday afternoon with the state Court of Criminal Appeals seeking to have the men released from jail based on those arguments, but the court will not consider it until next week, she said.

Lopez also contends the new Oklahoma immigration law is not valid because it is pre-empted by the federal Immigration and Nationality Act of 1986.

‘It's unconstitutional'
Lopez was in court with another client Friday when she heard Bass asking the two men about their immigration status.

She objected and offered to represent Gregorio Robles and Luis Mauricio Ochoa for free on the issue.

"It just shows my position on that law,â€