Feds Finally "Sue" Sheriff Joe

[Formaldehyde]

Arpaio: 'I will fight this to the bitter end'

The sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona, lashed out Thursday at Justice Department officials, calling their civil lawsuit alleging civil rights violations against him and his county politically motivated.

"They're using me for the Latino vote, showing that they're doing something, taking on the sheriff over an alleged racial profiling," Joe Arpaio told reporters in Phoenix.

He vowed to defend himself, not for selfish purposes, but to help the thousands of other sheriffs in the country avoid finding themselves in similar situations. "I'm not going to surrender my office to the federal government," he said. "I will fight this to the bitter end."

"At its core, this is an abuse-of-power case involving a sheriff and sheriff's office that disregarded the Constitution, ignored sound police practices, comprised public safety, and did not hesitate to retaliate against perceived critics," said Assistant U.S. Attorney General Thomas Perez.

The Justice Department had delivered in December a report with findings of civil rights violations and sought to fix them through a negotiated settlement with Maricopa County and its sheriff's office. Those talks broke down in February over Maricopa's refusal to consider any agreement that involved an independent monitor, Perez said.

"Attempts to forge solutions to address the serious civil rights and public safety concerns have proven elusive," Perez said.

According to the civil complaint, the sheriff's office has displayed a pattern of discrimination against Latinos, which includes racial profiling, unlawful detention and searches, and unlawful targeting of Latinos during raids.

The complaint also alleges that Maricopa detention officers discriminated against Latino prisoners in the jail. The targets were often prisoners who don't speak English well, Perez said. The jailers would give orders only in English, and when the prisoners didn't understand, they would place an entire area of the jail on lockdown for disobedience.

Here are some of the specific allegations:

- In one instance, a sheriff's deputy stopped a five-months pregnant Latina woman, a U.S. citizen, as she pulled into her driveway and ordered that she sit on the hood of her car, according to the lawsuit. When she refused, the officer grabbed her arms, pulled them behind her back and slammed her stomach-first into the car three times before dragging her to the patrol car and shoving her into the back seat, according to the lawsuit. The woman had failed to provide the deputy with proof of insurance, a citation that was resolved when she showed a local court that she was insured, the suit says.

- During raid of a suspected drop house for illegal immigrants, sheriff's officers searched a home next door without a warrant and with no evidence of criminal activity, handcuffed a Latino man and his 12-year-old son with zip ties and forced them to sit on the sidewalk for more than an hour next to 10 people seized from the drop house, according to the lawsuit. The man is a legal permanent resident of the U.S. and his son is a citizen, the suit says.

- During one traffic stop, sheriff's officers are accused of stopping and detaining a Latino driver and Latino passengers for a human smuggling investigation because they "appeared to be laying or leaning on top of each other" and looked disheveled and dirty, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit said pictures taken at the scene show neatly dressed passengers sitting comfortably in the vehicle.

- In another traffic stop, deputies stopped a car with four Latino men because it "was a little low," which the lawsuit says is not a criminal or traffic violation. The deputies ordered the men out of the car, handcuffed them with zip ties and made them sit on a curb for an hour before releasing all of them, the lawsuit says.

- In another instance during an immigration sweep, two deputies followed a Latina woman, a U.S. citizen, for a quarter-mile to her home for a non-functioning license plate light but did not turn on their police lights, according to the lawsuit. When the woman tried to go inside her home, the officers tackled her to the ground, kneed her in the back, handcuffed her and took her to a sheriff's substation for "disorderly conduct," the lawsuit says. She was later allowed to return home and her citation was later dismissed.

- In jail, female inmates have been denied basic sanitary items during menstruation, with some being forced to remain with soiled pants or sheets because of a language barrier, according to the lawsuit.

Manwhile, Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox settled her own lawsuit against Sheriff Joe and the county for $975K. This is the 6th lawsuit settled by the county so far regarding his conduct against some of the citizens who have opposed him:

"My family and I have just been through such an agonizing time," Wilcox said. "I will rededicate myself to being the best county supervisor I can be. ... In my case, the justice system really did come through."

In 2010, the county Board of Supervisors approved a resolution to avoid conflicts of interest in resolving supervisors' potential legal claims against the county stemming from actions taken by Arpaio and Thomas. The resolution gave authority to former County Manager David Smith to offer and negotiate settlements in those cases. Ultimately, 10 lawsuits were filed by county officials, employees and retired judges.

Under that authority, Smith settled five of those cases for amounts ranging from $75,000 to $500,000. Four plaintiffs remain in the lawsuit.

A countersuit filed by Thomas was withdrawn, and another filed by former Deputy County Attorney Lisa Aubuchon and former sheriff's Chief Deputy David Hendershott has been thrown out as baseless.

Is this going to be the end of Sheriff Joe? Or will it merely be yet another lawsuit against him and his practices, which are apparently supported by the majority of residents in that county?

 

[JollyRoger]

Can't wait to see this blowhard in pink underwear eating spoiled food.

 

[GhostWriter16]

If there's any truth to the OP, I agree with Jolly. This is awful.

Heck, just hang him for all I care

 

[rugbyLEAGUEfan]

He does seem to go to an inordinate amount of effort just so he can force people to sit on the curb . It's really weird ??

You can imagine his deputie's disappointment on proudly announcing "OK Chief , we got another one of these bastards , whatcha want us to do with him? Book him ? Beat him up ? Force him back over the border "

"Nah fellas , let's just sit him on the curb with the others for a while"

 

[kramerfan86]

It disgusts me that this racist clown is some sort of tough guy hero to a bunch of people. There is quite a line between enforcing the law and illegal immigration and being a filthy bigot.

 

[GhostWriter16]

It disgusts me that this racist clown is some sort of tough guy hero to a bunch of people. There is quite a line between enforcing the law and illegal immigration and being a filthy bigot.

Ten points for actually using this word in an accurate manner

But yeah, I agree with you. I used too, but I've changed my views after seeing the kinds of things he's done.

 

[MobBoss]

I dont think Sheriff Joe cares what the feds think.

 

[IdiotsOpposite]

If there's any truth to the OP, I agree with Jolly. This is awful.

Heck, just hang him for all I care

Given that the chance is rare, allow me to say that I agree with Dommy and Jolly.

 

[GhostWriter16]

I dont think Sheriff Joe cares what the feds think.

I doubt it, but I think this is a rare case when "Cruel and Unusual Punishment" has actually been happening in this country. I'm not a fan of it and I think he should be held responsible.

 

[Cutlass]

He belongs in the same prison that bribes him to make extra arrests.

 

[LucyDuke]

I dont think Sheriff Joe cares what the feds think.

I don't think the courts care what Sheriff Joe thinks.

 

[MobBoss]

I don't think the courts care what Sheriff Joe thinks.

Remains to be seen doesnt it?

 

[LucyDuke]

Guess we'll also wait to see if what the feds think becomes something Sheriff Joe has to care about.

 

[kramerfan86]

I dont think Sheriff Joe cares what the feds think.

Clearly since he is incapable of following even basic civil rights requirements.

 

[MobBoss]

Guess we'll also wait to see if what the feds think becomes something Sheriff Joe has to care about.

Innocent until proven guilty, right?

Right.

Clearly since he is incapable of following even basic civil rights requirements.

Then it should be easy to convict him then, eh?

Lets not quibble about this. Its now an election year, and this obviously has more than a few political overtones in its timing. I dont profess to be an expert on the specific issues here (dont live in Arizona, dont really care) but the feds have gone after Sheriff Joe before, and he seems to be like the honeybadger in that he is still around and still going strong. Will it be different this time? Who knows.

 

[LucyDuke]

Innocent until proven guilty, right?

Right.

Um. Yeah. What were you trying to say with your first post?

 

[Formaldehyde]

The battle to finally bring Sheriff Joe to justice has been ongoing for years by dozens of his victims at both the state and national level. It obviously has nothing to do with the upcoming presidential election. If anything, Obama would be better served to postpone it until after he wins reelection.

 

[MobBoss]

Rofl. 'Obviously'....

Thats funny.

 

[Formaldehyde]

The Sheriff Joe defense is indeed quite hilarious. What is even funnier is that some people actually believe it.

 

[MobBoss]

The Sheriff Joe defense is indeed quite hilarious. What is even funnier is that some people actually believe it.

I already professed I dont know much other than the fact that they have been trying to pin stuff on this guy for years and he's still kicking. So either they dont have the goods on him, or they are incompetent. So which is it?