Victor Manuel Caballero, Mexican National, is an illegal immigrant who, five months after he entered the country, was injured in a car accident.   The driver, Ricardo Martinez, had an uninsured, unregistered vehicle.   He fell asleep and drove it into a parked tractor trailer.   After the accident, Martinez fled to avoid numerous motor vehicle citations.

Caballero underwent several medical procedures which running up a bill of almost $40,000 which he had no money to pay nor insurance to cover.   The bills were paid by charity.   But Caballero had to pay for his own prescriptions and he sought compensation through the courts for his pain and suffering by suing a privately run fund set up to cover claims resulting from uninsured drivers.

Trial and appeals courts turned him down on the basis of his not being a bona fide resident of the state.   Initially he "came to New Jersey to work for at least five years to save money to help his family."   The trial court noted that "Caballero had not brought significant belongings with him to New Jersey, registered for school or attempted to apply for resident alien status" and "without the legal ability or authority to remain in the state, plaintiff was incapable of reasonably forming the requisite intent to remain for any length of time."   Caballero appealed claiming that the lower courts ruling would permit no undocumented alien to be a "resident" and this violated his "equal protection rights."   Caballero won his case at state Supreme Court.

http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/opinions/supreme/A-8-05.pdf

The Asbury Park Press, a New Jersey newspaper, quotes Caballero's attorney, Victor Covelli, as calling the state Supreme Court's decision a "great victory for a lot of individuals that are underrepresented in the United States just because they're here illegally."   Covelli also said "it's a great victory for auto accident victims who have no insurance."   Covelli and another attorney, Martin Perez, president of the Latino Leadership Alliance said they have other clients with similar claims.   Perez further noted that the illegal immigrant "victims" are "saddled with enormous amounts of medical bills."   That flies in the face of the fact that Mr. Caballero's and most illegal immigrants' medical bills are footed by "charities" and other means, the money for which typically comes from the taxpayer.   The story did not comment on whether Mrs. Covelli or Perez reduced their fees which undoubtedly are in the 33% - 50% range PLUS EXPENSES.

The Asbury Park Press injects its opinionated wisdom into this news story by noting that the organization from which money is likely to be recovered by Mr. Caballero is funded only in part by "insured motorists" who "generally pay a surcharge of $1 to $4 a year toward the fund."   Well, guess what?   Not only do insured motorists give the insurance companies the remainder of the funding when they pay their insurance bills, the amount of the minimal surcharge discussed by the Press is about to go up!

The Equal Protection Clause of the 14th amendment of the U.S. Constitution prohibits states from denying persons within its jurisdiction the equal protection of laws.   Specifically, it says, "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.   No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." [emphasis added]   The 14th Amendment followed the abolition of slavery via the 13th Amendment and was crafted so as to prevent states of the Confederacy from enacting "Black codes" which would otherwise make emancipated slaves non-citizens.

The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) notes that at the time of ratification of the 14th Amendment, "the United States had no immigration policy, and thus the authors saw no need to state that explicitly.   The phrase 'subject to the jurisdiction thereof' was intended to exclude" from the benefits of the Amendment "American-born persons whose allegiance to the United States was not complete.   In the case of illegal aliens who are temporarily or unlawfully in the United States, because their native country has a claim of allegiance on the child, the completeness of the allegiance to the United States is impaired and logically precludes automatic citizenship."

The New Jersey Supreme Court ignored the history and meaning of the 14th Amendment in crafting its decision and extending benefits of US citizenship to illegal immigrants who have no allegiance to the US or New Jersey and who are here exclusively to earn money to send back to their native country.   The New Jersey Supreme Court has extended its jurisdiction to exceed that of the authority of the US Constitution.   It has declared itself a law onto itself.

We are no longer a representative democracy.   We are now fully under the control of a judicial oligarchy which decides for itself what is fair and right.   The US Constitution is out and whatever judges determine is in.   Democracy was nice while we lived under it.   Perhaps one day democracy will rise again as an important form of government.