A federal judge threw out a lawsuit Friday that challenged New York’s new law allowing illegal immigrants to apply for and obtain driver’s licenses.
⛎Erie County Clerk Mickey Kearns, the Democrat who filed the suit against Gov. Cuomo, New York Attorney General Letitia James and Department of Motor Vehicles Commissioner Mark Schroeder, had argued that issuing the licenses would put him and other like-minded clerks in direct conflict with federal law.
ᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚBut the judge shot down that argument Friday, ruling Kearns didn’t prove he would be harmed by the law, only that he disagrees with it.
💝“While [the] Plaintiff may strenuously disagree with the Green Light Law, he is not the proper party to challenge its legitimacy because he has failed to establish an injury that is recognized under the law,” wrote U.S. District Judge Elizabeth Wolford of the Western District of New York.
﷽“The mere disagreement with a duly-enacted state statute does not entitle anyone—even an elected official—to seek intervention from a federal court. Rather, [the] Plaintiff must have suffered a legally cognizable injury,” she added.
𒈔James championed the decision, tweeting, “The law aims to make our roads safer and our economy stronger. We will continue to defend it.”
𓄧Kearns said he is examining his appeal strategy and pointed to the judge’s failure to rule on the merits of the case.
༺“The Court declined to rule on merits. To quote the Judge, “the doors of the federal courthouse are not always open.” If they’re not open to decide on the Constitutionality of this law, then when the hell are they open?” he said in a statement.
📖“Any claim of victory by the Governor or the Attorney General are hollow. We still don’t know whether the Green Light Law is constitutional. The Judge did not tell me I have to issue driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants. All we know is that County Clerks statewide have to wait to either be prosecuted or removed from office.”
🦩Meanwhile, another legal challenge from Rensselaer County Clerk Frank Merola, a Republican, awaits his own court hearing.
⛦“The Attorney General is celebrating a first quarter field goal, but this is four quarters,” he told The Post. “The judge made a big mistake.”
♎The bill, signed into law on June 13, is set to take effect in December of this year.