Forecasting SB 4’s Future

Judge Sam Sparks

The same week a federal judge in San Antonio patiently heard arguments against Senate Bill 4 in a suit filed by Texas cities, including Austin ("SB 4: Texas Cities Get Their Day in Court," June 30), an Austin judge presided over similar arguments, with less restraint. On Thursday, June 29, U.S. Judge Sam Sparks appeared irritated by the state's politics in filing a preemptive suit against the city of Austin and its officials over SB 4, a racial profiling law that punishes municipalities that don't follow all federal immigration requests. Attorney General Ken Paxton is asking Sparks to rule the impending law constitutional before its enactment on Sept. 1. However, Sparks cautioned he didn't have the "authority" to do so and that the state didn't have a factual basis for their argument as the law has yet to be enforced. "I don't have the authority to forecast the future, and you have a statute that doesn't come into effect until September," said Sparks, as reported by the Texas Tribune. Sparks also took a swipe at Austin – which joined San Antonio's SB 4 suit against the state – for jumping into the legal fray. "The city of Austin just got in because it's political and they get a lot of advertisement" in the press, he said. The judge left both sides with no indication of when or how he would rule.