Joe Arpaio Facing Justice Department Lawsuit Over Alleged Civil Rights Violations

[Purveyor]

Source: Associated Press

PHOENIX -- Federal authorities say they intend to file a lawsuit against Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio and his department over allegations of civil rights violations.

The U.S. Justice Department sent a letter dated Wednesday to lawyers for the Maricopa County sheriff, giving his office "notice of intent to file civil action."

Arpaio's office has been accused of racially profiling Latinos, basing immigration patrols on racially-charged citizen complaints that didn't allege crimes and punishing Hispanic jail inmates for speaking Spanish.

The DOJ also has accused Arpaio of having a culture of disregard for basic constitutional rights.


Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/09/joe-arpaio-justice-department-lawsuit_n_1504563.html

[David Zephyr]

1. Good news.

High praise for Attorney General Eric Holder and the Justice Department.

[AzDar]

2. 'Bout freaking time!

[Rosa Luxemburg]

3. Arpaio is a villain

I hope that he is arrested

[kestrel91316]

4. He needs more than a lawsuit. He needs criminal charges.

[EFerrari]

5. No kidding. Who knows how many people this @sshole has abused and worse. nt

[arely staircase]

22. hopefully the doj knows (or will know)

i would be profiled in his jurisdiction. for some (many) of us this isn't an intellectual enterprise - it is real life.

[EFerrari]

24. I wouldn't be but half of my first cousins would be

with their brown skin, curly black hair and big brown eyes. My mom would be. Yeah, nothing theoretical about Arpaio's racial profiling. I hope he goes to jail for a long time.

[arely staircase]

28. yeah, i'd probably be fine too

but my brother wouldn't (he looks like your description of your cousins.) Ironically I have always identified more w/Mexican culture than he - he's actually a redneck, culturally (though not political at all.)

[EFerrari]

29. Ha! Yes and that's the thing.

It's impossible to tell who we are by just looking at us. lol

[meow2u3]

7. You took the words right off my keyboard

"He should be facing criminal charges" is right. He needs to be condemned to the exact same degrading and appaling conditions that the prisoners and detainess (those held awaiting trial) have been forced to endure. Arpaio is nothing but a criminal with a sheriff's badge.

[JonLP24]

20. Agree

This is one of dozens of lawsuits and this only affects the taxpayers. MCSO had paid over $1 million in lawsuit judgments.

[msanthrope]

6. And now federal takeover of the department begins. Good. nt

[bloomington-lib]

8. I wonder if there will be a showdown when they come to get him

Not that I actually think anything will be done

[cosmicone]

9. Why not a criminal complaint?

Frog-march the focker.

[msanthrope]

10. Different investigation. This is the federal takeover of the department.

The criminal grand jury apparently continues.

[Smilo]

11. He won't recognize this lawsuit.......

because he has absolutely no clue what Justice is.

[Ruby the Liberal]

13. Yes, we are all big fans of "Sherrif" Joe here.

Glad you could join in.

[maddezmom]

14. bless your heart

[ScreamingMeemie]

16. I think the word you are looking for is "lax" and not "lack"

Did you mean "borders"? Or "boarders" as in, hotel guests must be secured by the government? I also believe you mean, "We, the people of Arizona, love him." Also most people hit the space bar at least once after a period. It's also government attorneys, no need for an apostrophe there. I am sure the last "sherrif" was an honest mistake! Take care now.


Edited because I misspelled your misspelling.

[Ruby the Liberal]

18. Whoa! Slow down there, girl.

You're going to overwhelm the little guy.

[ScreamingMeemie]

19. Too much at once you think? I was never good at tutoring.

[EFerrari]

25. There's no reasoning with ignorant assholes.

Immigration from Mexico is at a sixty year low. The border guard has been doubled since 2008 and Obama has deported vastly more people than Little Boots did.

But God bless that old felon for terrorizing the Latino community. There will be no blowback from that at all.

[newspeak]

26. I was raised in phoenix

most of my friends were hispanic. Never had all of this brouhaha back then. When I worked at SSA, most of the employees were hispanic. This isn't just about the border, my friends would be profiled and some were born and raised in arizona; instead of the snowbirds who moved there from back east.

Y'all talking about your damn constitutional rights, especially to own guns; but yet, those civil rights for others apparently can be passed over. What a bunch of bigoted hypocrites! No, "we the people don't love him" just the "white" "it's okay what you do to the brown people" love him.

[newspeak]

27. oh, and how many of your wacko right politicians, including the sheriff

have their hands in the corporate prison industry pie? Inquiring minds want to know.

[FiveGoodMen]

17. I'm pretty sure this is both hi and goodbye.

[arely staircase]

23. sheriff Joe is going down thanks to hussein obama's

comittment to the rule of law - deal with it, freak.

[struggle4progress]

15. Justice Department Sues Arizona Sheriff Over Immigration

By FERNANDA SANTOS and CHARLIE SAVAGE
Published: May 10, 2012

PHOENIX — The Justice Department on Thursday sued Joe Arpaio, a prominent Arizona sheriff known for his crackdowns aimed at rounding up illegal immigrants, accusing him of discrimination and retaliating against his critics. The move, in an election year, escalated a politically charged fight over local enforcement of federal immigration laws and the civil rights of Latinos.

In a 32-page civil rights lawsuit against Mr. Arpaio and his Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, the Justice Department contended that Mr. Arpaio’s campaign against illegal immigration — including traffic stops and sweeps of homes and workplaces — had resulted in a “pattern or practice of unlawful discrimination” aimed at Latinos.

Mr. Arpaio’s focus on immigration enforcement has eroded the relationship between law enforcement and the Latino community here, with Latinos growing increasingly wary of cooperating with the authorities when they are victims or witnesses of crimes. The lawsuit also argues that the resources devoted to the sweeps have required the sheriff’s office to put a lower priority on traditional local law enforcement responsibilities, like investigating rapes and domestic violence.

"The United States is not seeking, and has never sought, monetary damages or attorney's fees in connection with our case," Thomas E. Perez, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's civil rights division, said in a news conference here. The goal, Mr. Perez said, is "to fix the problems" and to "ensure that the necessary policies, practices and oversight are in place" to prevent them from happening again ...

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/11/us/justice-department-sues-arizona-sheriff-joe-arpaio.html?_r=1

[daaron]

21. It's about time!

This bigots hate is starting to infect other parts of the Rockies, the purple mountains majesty is becoming a police state!