Confusion Reigns Over Alabama Immigration Law

"Confusion is running rampant in Alabama over how and when to apply the new immigration law – considered the toughest such measure in the nation.  Now that federal judges have blocked parts of the act while letting others take effect, officials say uncertainty reigns even while suspects are being arrested and jailed.  Court cases can vary from one place to the other, depending on how local police apply the law to arrest suspects. Once those suspects get to court, the handling of their cases can vary from judge to judge in the state's more than 450 trial courts at the municipal and county level.  "There's a whole lot of confusion about the law and what we should do about it," said Judge Scott Vowell, a circuit judge in Birmingham's Jefferson County and president of the Alabama Circuit Judges Association.  He said he has a list of troubling reports: In some areas, police are setting up roadblocks near mobile home communities where Hispanic people live.  One municipal judge opened court by saying that anyone without a driver's license would be arrested under the law. Another judge told spectators that the need for an interpreter could be considered evidence against someone.  Other cases of mixed signals are easy to find." - Associate Press, Fox News Latino, Oct. 26, 2011.