SIDEBAR: Former Solicitor General Paul Clement Charged Arizona $400K For Mostly Unsuccessful Defense Of SB1070

FINANCIAL SIDEBAR:  Arizona's Politics conducted a new review of the current status of the state's SB1070 legal defense fund - that article may be found here.  The last time that we reviewed the fund in 2012, we wondered what the then-just-completed oral argument (and appeal briefs) by former U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement before the U.S. Supreme Court had cost Arizona's Border Security and Immigration Legal Defense Fund (aka "Border Security Fund").

We now have an answer: $400,000.  That is what Arizona paid Clement's then-firm of Bancroft Associates in May and June of 2012.  Clement is a Supreme Court rock star, having appeared before the Justices at least 69 times.  SCOTUSblog told Arizona's Politics that $400,000 is "a substantially discounted rate".

The Supreme Court considered four provisions of well-known law in that appeal.  It struck down three as being preempted by federal immigration law, and upheld the section that requires law enforcement to attempt to determine immigration status of someone they have a reasonable suspicion is present in the state illegally.

As noted in the main article, more than $3.44M of the $3.66M has been sent, mostly to pay Snell & Wilmer legal fees.

(LEGAL SIDEBAR: whisper  whisper whisper whisper)

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