Finally! House Judiciary Committee calls for investigation into Sheriff Joe
By David Neiwert Friday Feb 13, 2009 2:30pmWhen he isn't hosting Brazil-esque "reality" shows and having his deputies arrest people for applauding at county council meetings, Arizona's Sheriff Joe Arpaio has been making Maricopa County's law enforcement a national disgrace.
Now, finally, the House Judiciary Committee is calling for the Justice and Homeland departments to investigate Arpaio's activities:
House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.), and Immigration Subcommittee Chairwoman Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), Constitution Subcommittee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), and Crime Subcommittee Chairman Bobby Scott (D-Va.) called on Attorney General Eric Holder and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to investigate allegations of misconduct by Maricopa County (Arizona) Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
Sheriff Arpaio has repeatedly demonstrated disregard for the rights of Hispanics in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Under the guise of immigration enforcement, his staff has conducted raids in residential neighborhoods in a manner condemned by the community as racial profiling. On February 4, 2009, Arpaio invited the media to view the transfer of immigrant detainees to a segregated area of his "tent city" jail, subjecting the detainees to public display and "ritual humiliation." Persistent actions such as these have resulted in numerous lawsuits; while Arpaio spends time and energy on publicity and his reality television show, "Smile… You’re Under Arrest!", Maricopa County has paid millions of dollars in settlements involving dead or injured inmates.
"Racial profiling and segregation are simply not acceptable." said Conyers. "Media stunts and braggadocio are no substitute for fair and effective law enforcement."
The Judiciary Committee also asks the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to review the agreement that DHS has signed with the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office under Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which Joe has so roundly abused. Report after report has shown that Sheriff Arpaio regularly engages in racial profiling in Latino neighborhoods. It's part of the reason he has 2,700 lawsuits filed against him.
For his latest publicity stunt, Arpaio paraded immigrant detainees through the streets of Phoenix in order to segregate and relocate them to a "Tent City" surrounded by electric fencing. The 287 (g) agreement gives the Sheriff authority to enforce federal immigration laws, but it does not provide permission to use racial profiling or other tactics that violate an individual's constitutional rights.
It does not give one the right to create mini-Gitmos.
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Can't wait for the "Sheriff Joe" email thread on this one. He's a hero to the right-wing knuckle draggers. They'll just use this story to beat up the liberals. Oh well.
Arizona Self Appointed Tin Pot Dictator to be Investigated
Assuming of course the Democrats and this Administration have the guts for it.
Lock that punk up AND all the thugs that work for him.
Viva La Raza!!
LOL @ Viva La Raza!!
No mames culero!!
"Viva La Raza!!" is as racist as the Klan and wannabe Nazis shouting "White Power!"
It's not funny and it is as un-American as Sheriff Arpaio.
menteroso!
It's menTIroso. "Menteroso" is not a word in Spanish.
Yeah, right. How many people has La Raza lynched?
...where 67% of violent crime--including murder--is committed by Mexicans who have crossed the border illegally.
"Viva La Raza" is as harmful as religion is: it undermines community and feed tribalism and exclusion. It is racist.
Surely you can provide us with some statistics to back that up. 67% ? Really. I grew up in sw LA county.
I'm not saying you're wrong. The gangs are a huge problem.
But their (for the most part) born here.
you obviously don't know too many Hispanics...
que tonto...
I would suggest you dig up a Mexican-American and ask him about that phrase. That "reverse racism" thing works only in a limited set of circumstances, and this ain't one of them.
After that they need to start investigating CPS and crooked family court judges and we MIGHT get our country back from evil incarnate.
Don't get your hopes up.
Idiots like this guy keep pushing the law and acting a fool but before anyone seemed to care in DC, they had to get doping out of baseball. For some reason all that too-doo on the hill about what was going on in baseball just rubbed me the wrong way. There were so many much worse things going on yet this was one of their primary concerns at the time.
I hope if the bastard is guilty he gets to experience all the things the prisoners in his jail have experienced. A little humiliation would be good for him.
You mean like death?
Investigative reporters have been onto him for years: http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/arpaio
That's just typical Republican bullshite designed to distract people from the real issues. They know America is addicted to celebrity trash.
For the likes of Glen Campbell, the Mayor's daughter, and other celebrities arrested by Sheriff Joke, they get holed up in beautiful downtown Scotsdale, in a "jail" that resembles a luxury hotel. Of course, unless you are a black rapper. They get thrown in Tent City or the non-air condition downtown facilities. Even the dogs under The Joke's care (he is, after all, the official Dog Catcher) get air conditioning. (Summers get up to 120+ degrees in Phoenix.)
BTW - The majority of people in Tent City are Sheriff Joke's victims who haven't even gone to trial or had no money to pay off fines. Not really what you would call criminals.
First we get this bald asshole...."joe the plummer" who is anything but. Now we get sherrif joe who is no more than a fascist bigot.
I'm glad I'm not named joe. Would be tough!
EoM.
From Information Clearing House.
The second half of the video is about Sheriff Arpaio.
BBC: Torture Inc. Americas Brutal Prisons
Direct link to video (wmv) - save and/or launch in your own media player.
Torture Inc. Americas Brutal Prisons
The politicians who have been running for the last two centuries on "Tough on Crime" platforms and those who benefit financially have created so many myths about how easy prisoners have it that late night comedy has been riddled with prison rape jokes for decades. Crime and punishment has been politically abused for personal gain almost since the nation's inception. Know why we had so many electric chairs in the country? Because it usually fell to the first town in each county in the country to become the County Seat if it got an electric chair before anyone else did. The whole system needs to be tossed out and a new concept of how human beings who commit crimes are to be treated should replace it.
...but first, we may need to get a whole new government!
Since she seemingly lacked the will or ability to do anything about Sheriff Joke as Governor, will Napolitano actually do anything now?
Any politician in Arizona that runs on an Anti-Arpaio platform will see their campaign go up in flames. For the life of me, I cannot understand Sheriff Joke's popularity in Arizona. Even liberal-minded people I've talked with in the past support this man.
If Janet spoke out against The Joke, she would have lost.
baby jesus has a special jumpsuit, cell and cell mate all ready and waiting for the Sheriff
baby jesus!
And I bet you've had it ready for him for a long time too.
So how's it going baby jesus? Haven't seen you around for much too long.
baby jesus has been flying around Africa monitoring all the humans that get ignored by the other humans,
baby jesus went to the summit of Africa while Obama went to the summit of American politics
Well bless your heart. Wait, I guess I can't ask for a blessing on your heart if you are the blesser.
It's good to know you are watching and most likely taking names.
If they throw him in jail in Arizona, I'm sure he'll have a lot of company. Guys who are real eager to talk to Joe about how he treated them in the past.
It would be sweet.
Good Gawd, does it have anything to do with the name Joe? When does Sloppy Joe go to trial?
If I were Joe Biden, I would change my name and fast. At least he should call himself Joseph for now.
this despicable asswipe sheriff
is a racist, a bully and a criminal.
he should be removed and imprisoned.
a uniform and a gun.
They also might want to look into those odd looking mounds in the compound, and investigate why the accidental death rate in Joe's neighborhood is so high.
Good. Let's hope they eliminate the best reason to not move to Phoenix.
baby jesus loves to watch
you are always welcome to participate too!
Just a little gift from the mouth breathers and hicks that gave us john( never forget I was a pow)mccain. Gee as soon as hell freezes over, maybe I'll take my vacation there. The land of sun and the red neck, Dr. it hurts when my knuckles drag on the dirt. Why not re-open Yuma prison, just for greasy joe, on a side note "ol joes" been wearing pink underware since he was a kid.CEO,citizens,eyes,open.
Instead of the police targetting targetting Mexicans and skateboarders; how about our fat worthless police get up off their lazy donut eating asses and go after the tweakers. Na... they would never do that; the cops are too busy charging the drug dealers protection fees. You look at any neighborhood with a drug problem and you will find a police force that remodels their homes every year.
The majority of tweakers are white, so they aren't a real menace. Don't you know that a brown guy looking for work is far more dangerous than a white guy snorting meth and looking for a gun?
.
LOL...
Conyers and his letters...
.
sonds like Sheriff Joe's nothing but a good old fashioned bully. and a fat lazy one at that.
is nothing but another celebrity whore who gives good cops a bad name. Obviously though, he's popular in McCain Land since they keep electing him.
Seems to be DOJ matter to me, civil rights not just for hispanics, but also for the right to petition the government for redress of grievances.
A judicial committee hearing stands the chance of being warped by conservatards into their version of the mccarthy hearings, and elevating this cracker's sheriff's standing.
And I DON'T think Obama's DOJ is likely to let this go the way (*ahem*) other DOJ's would have done.
It's ABOUT TIME.
Can we stop obsessing over the OMGTERRIST illegal immigrants and start focusing on actual criminals again? I'm sure the victims of real crime would be grateful of our law enforcement agencies stopped indulging the Repug fantasies and went back to their real work.
...was fat-ass's ignoring all the criminal cases on his desk while he creates media-events.
somebody keeps voting this cretin into office so regardless of the investigation it's going to be interesting to see how this plays out. even if he gets ousted from office at a minimum, i'd expect to see a clone of him in the position continuing the same draconian policies.
you'll only see true change when you change the electorate enabling him.
I think if we learned anything in 2000, we learned that the people don't always elect their elected officials. And their elected officials sometimes have other methods of winning elections rather than the peoples choice.
That won't be a clone, but a breath of fresh air. With Sheriff Joke out of the way, a respected member of law enforcement would take over.
yes truly change we can believe in. I live in Vegas, Nevada, and his crap trap raids are big news here.
Lets hope it Sherriff Joe doesn't arrest Rambo. Anyone that saw "Rambo First Blood" would know what trouble that could mean for Sherriff Joe and Arizona.
Hey, If the WingNuts can use "24" to validate their torturing. What the hell?
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