Is This The End For Sheriff Joe?

[Flagg]

MSNBC

By msnbc.com staff and wire service reports

Updated at 5 p.m. EST

The U.S. government said Thursday that the man who called himself the toughest sheriff in America ran an office that has committed wide-ranging civil rights violations against Latinos, including a pattern of racial profiling and heavy-handed immigration patrols based on racially charged complaints.

The U.S. Justice Department's expert on measuring racial profiling called it the most egregious case he has seen, the department's civil rights division chief told reporters.

The scathing report on Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, obtained by The Associated Press ahead of its release, marks the federal government's harshest rebuke of a man who rose to national prominence for his immigration crackdowns. Republican presidential candidates have competed for his endorsement.

Arpaio has long denied the racial profiling allegation. His office did not immediately respond Thursday to requests for comment.

After the report was released, the Department of Homeland Security announced it would cut ties with Arpaio.

Secretary Janet Napolitano, formerly Arizona's governor, said the department is ending an agreement with the Maricopa County sheriff's office that allowed trained deputies to enforce immigration laws. It's also restricting the office's use of the Secure Communities program, which uses fingerprints collected in local jails to identify illegal immigrants.

Arpaio, 79, has built his reputation on jailing inmates in tents and dressing them in pink underwear, selling himself to voters as unceasingly tough on crime and pushing the bounds of how far local police can go to confront illegal immigration.

Apart from the civil rights investigation, a federal grand jury has been investigating Arpaio's office on criminal abuse-of-power allegations since at least December 2009. His department allegedly has misspent county money and failed to adequately investigate more than 400 sexual-abuse cases, many involving illegal immigrants, The New York Times reported.

The civil rights report will require Arpaio to set up effective policies against discrimination that a judge would monitor for compliance. Arpaio faces a Jan. 4 deadline for saying whether he wants to work out an agreement. If not, the federal government will sue him and let a judge decide the complaint.

In a press conference Thursday, Thomas Perez, the head of the U.S. Justice Department's civil rights division, said the department's expert on measuring racial profiling called the case the most egregious case of racial profiling in the country that he has seen or reviewed in professional literature.

The civil rights report criticized the sheriff's office for launching immigration patrols, known as "sweeps," based on complaints that Latinos were merely gathering near a business without committing crimes.

The report said Latinos are four to nine times more likely to be stopped in traffic stops in Maricopa County than non-Latinos. Deputies on the immigrant-smuggling squad stop and arrest Latino drivers without good cause, the investigation found.

A review found that 20 percent of traffic reports handled by Arpaio's immigrant-smuggling squad from March 2006 to March 2009 were stops — almost all involving Latino drivers — that were done without reasonable suspicion. The stops rarely led to smuggling arrests.

Latinos who were in the U.S. legally were arrested or detained without cause during the sweeps, according to the report.
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Illegal immigrants accounted for 57 percent of the 1,500 people arrested in the 20 sweeps conducted since January 2008, according to figures provided by Arpaio's office.

The civil rights report also found that police supervisors often used county accounts to send emails that demeaned Latinos to colleagues. One email had a photo of a mock driver's license for a fictional state called "Mexifornia."

Federal investigators also focused heavily on the language barriers in Arpaio's jails.

Latino inmates with limited English skills were punished for failing to understand commands in English by being put in solitary confinement for up to 23 hours a day.

Detention officers refused to accept forms requesting basic daily services and reporting mistreatment when the documents were completed in Spanish, and they pressured Latinos with limited English skills to sign forms that implicated their legal rights without language assistance.

Arpaio, one of Arizona's leading Republicans, recently endorsed Texas Gov. Rick Perry's bid for the GOP presidential nomination.

"I don't know what all the details are, but I do know this, that nothing surprises me out of this administration," Perry said Thursday on Fox News. "This administration oversaw "Fast and Furious," a sting operation in which illegally obtained weapons were allowed across the border into Mexico in an effort to find drug cartel leaders.

"I would suggest to you that these people are out after Sheriff Joe," Perry said. "He is tough. And again, when I'm the president of the United States you're not going to see me going out after states like Arizona or Alabama suing sovereign states for making decisions particularly because the federal government has been abject failure at securing the border.

Rey Torres, president of the Arizona Latino Republican Association, told msnbc.com that his group declared a “vehement rejection of everything” in the Justice Department report.

He called Arpaio a needed “soldier in the fight to keep Arizona citizens safe from violence perpetrated along immigration corridors due to the federal government’s unwillingness to enforce immigration law in this region or any others.”

“It would be more interesting if [U.S. Attorney General Eric] Holder held himself up to the same legal scrutiny and once and for all revealed who is responsible for “Fast and Furious” rather than push these trumped up charges of racial profiling that distract from the issue.

The Arizona Democratic Party on Thursday, said, "It's hard to imagine a public official who more embodies corruption, waste and arrogance than Sheriff Joe Arpaio. We welcome the Justice Department's full attention to this case and hope it helps mainstream Arizona move on from Arpaio's extremism and embrace a new era of responsible leadership."

The Associated Press and msnbc.com's Jim Gold contributed to this report.

So is this that fat racist cunts swan song? Probably not.

But here is the full report by the justice department.

[weemadando]

You make the mistake of assuming the average bigoted fuckhead voter sees anything negative in that article.

[Flagg]

You make the mistake of assuming the average bigoted fuckhead voter sees anything negative in that article.

I said "probably not", dude.

[weemadando]

Dude? That sounds ebonical to me. You some kinda ethnic?

[Flagg]

Dude? That sounds ebonical to me. You some kinda ethnic?

Just drunk. Just drunk.

[Solauren]

Wait, the Federal Government is going to sue him?

Why not, oh, arrest him?

Something like that in Canada would have the Sherrif (or local equal) on administrative leave at the least, and probably facing jail time.

[The Romulan Republic]

Wait, the Federal Government is going to sue him?

Why not, oh, arrest him?

Something like that in Canada would have the Sherrif (or local equal) on administrative leave at the least, and probably facing jail time.

Probably because there'd be a massive uproar from all the racist hick fans this excuse of a Sheriff has. I'm sure Fox News would go on for months about how Obama is a traitor who prosecutes patriotic Americans and protects illegal immigrants.

[Enigma]

Wait, the Federal Government is going to sue him?

Why not, oh, arrest him?

Something like that in Canada would have the Sherrif (or local equal) on administrative leave at the least, and probably facing jail time.

Unless he's from Quebec and you replace Latinos with Anglophones.

[Lord Zentei]

Dude? That sounds ebonical to me. You some kinda ethnic?

It's actually not. Apparently, it means "a (possibly pretentious) city-slicker unfamiliar with rural life" or something to that effect. Also, an informal address between guys. It dates at least to the 19th century.

[mr friendly guy]

Dude? That sounds ebonical to me. You some kinda ethnic?

It's actually not. Apparently, it means "a (possibly pretentious) city-slicker unfamiliar with rural life" or something to that effect. Also, an informal address between guys. It dates at least to the 19th century.

To be honest, I first heard the term dude from Teenage mutant ninja turtles.

[Count Chocula]

So we've gone ITT from "Sheriff Joe is done hurr" to "dude, what are the epistemological origins of 'dude'?"

Joe will survive.

[Flagg]

So we've gone ITT from "Sheriff Joe is done hurr" to "dude, what are the epistemological origins of 'dude'?"

Joe will survive.

Provide quotes where anyone suggested "Sheriff Joe is done hurr" or kindly get the fuck out.

[Count Chocula]

So is this that fat racist cunts swan song? Probably not.

Hey, I'm agreeing with you. Go fuck a duck. Or learn a little sarcasm.

EDIT 2: I found the "Is this the end big deal?1?1" thread title's progression to the meandering "dude" discussion amusing.

[Flagg]

So is this that fat racist cunts swan song? Probably not.

Hey, I'm agreeing with you. Go fuck a duck. Or learn a little sarcasm.

EDIT 2: I found the "Is this the end big deal?1?1" thread title's progression to the meandering "dude" discussion amusing.

So you were just lying, then?

[Count Chocula]

Really? That's the best you can do?

[Flagg]

Really? That's the best you can do?

I hardly see how claiming that anyone said the equivalent of "Sheriff Joe is done hurr" is sarcasm. You're defense of this was to quote me saying "So is this that fat racist cunts swan song? Probably not." as evidence, which is hilarious as it totally contradicts your point. So you're lying.

[Lord Zentei]

I found the "Is this the end big deal?1?1" thread title's progression to the meandering "dude" discussion amusing.

Etymological history is important!

And yes, there's nothing wrong with a bit of schadenfreude WRT Joe Arpaio. He's a shithead.

[Count Chocula]

typing something something something

I think maybe instead I'll end every sentence in a question? So nobody can think I'm making an argument? Maybe you're just drunk? Maybe I'll just post a long article with a "I don't think he's done but here's another indictment of asshole of the day xxx" and people will think I'm a witty clever poster? Maybe that's the recipe for success ITT?

[madd0ct0r]

Christ all mighty can the two of you get a room?

I'm not sure about the rest of it, but fucking with somebody becuase they've got limited language skills? pretty darn tootin non-cowboy.

[Count Chocula]

Who are you talking to madd0ct0r? Me? Flagg? Someone else?

[madd0ct0r]

which two people are currently competing to see who gets to be the big spoon?
(yes, it's you and flagg)

I'd rather hear about Sherriff dickwad and his passion for mocha

[Flagg]

Madnumbers, fuck off.

Cockula, why can't you just admit you were wrong and that no one said what you claimed was said? Instead you toss out strawmen and red herrings like a little punk trying to cover for himself. To quote someone better than me, is it pride? What makes you think you have a right to pride?

[SCRawl]

maddoctor, leave the moderating to the professionals please.

Flagg, shut the fuck up. I have no patience for trolls today.

[Thanas]

Chocula can STFU as well.

[Akhlut]

I don't think the racial profiling is going to hurt him, though I think the not investigating rapes and sexual assaults will bite him in the ass. Or, that's my hope, at least.