ABA Journal:  The ABA has filed an amicus brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn part of a controversial Arizona law that requires immigration status checks for some people who are stopped or arrested.

The ABA brief urges the court to rule that four enjoined provisions are pre-empted by federal immigration law, according to a press release. The four provisions:

• Require police officers to check the immigration status of a person legally stopped, detained or arrested, if they have a reasonable suspicion the person is in the United States illegally. If the person is arrested, police would be required to hold the person pending federal verification.

• Authorize warrantless arrests when there is probable cause to believe a person has committed a public offense warranting deportation.

Associated Press:  “Bank of America has launched a pilot program that will let some homeowners at risk of foreclosure become renters and stay in their homes.  Fewer than 1,000 borrowers in Arizona, Nevada and New York will be enrolled in the test program, which began this week. Those selected will transfer the title of their homes back to Bank of America and have their mortgage debt forgiven.  The homeowners can rent the homes for up to three years at or below their area’s market rental rate.”

AZ Central:  A U.S. District Court judge has dismissed all of the civil lawsuits filed by Maricopa County officials and Superior Court judges against Sheriff Joe Arpaio and former County Attorney Andrew Thomas.

Judge Neil Wake on Friday gave the plaintiffs — retired judges Gary Donahoe, Barbara Rodriguez Mundell and Anna Baca; Supervisors Don Stapley and Mary Rose Wilcox; and county employees Susan Schuerman, Sandi Wilson and Gary Wetzel — the opportunity to rewrite their complaints. But he warned them that he will not tolerate the melodrama and imprecise accusations that have characterized the political battles from which the lawsuits were generated.

“The parties are admonished that future pleadings shall be limited to concise recitations of relevant facts and law,” Wake wrote. “Language that is irrelevant, inflammatory, or included for an improper purpose will be stricken from future pleadings.”

AZCentral:  Peoria photo-enforcement cameras stopped operating Monday morning following a decision last month to end the program.

The city decided not to renew its contract with Redflex Traffic Systems, the company that operates the cameras, after learning that crashes at monitored intersections actually increased during the three-year pilot program.

Cameras were placed at four intersections throughout the city: Thunderbird Road and 75th Avenue, Thunderbird Road and 83rd Avenue, Union Hills Drive and 83rd Avenue, and Bell Road and 91st Avenue.