The Justice Dept. has filed suit against Sheriff Joe Arpaio. They accuse him, Maricopa County and his office of failure to cooperate with the civil rights investigation of his office.
According with MSNBC News:
The Justice Department has been investigating allegations that the sheriff’s office has engaged in discrimination against Hispanics. As a recipient of federal funds, the sheriff’s office is required to cooperate with such investigations.
But today, the Justice Department said it’s been trying to get the sheriff’s cooperation for more than a year without success. That makes his department “an extreme outlier,” given that no other local law enforcement organization has refused to cooperate with a civil rights investigation in the last 30 years, the government says.
“The actions of the sheriff’s office are unprecedented. It is unfortunate that the department was forced to resort to litigation to gain access to public documents and facilities,” says Thomas Perez, the assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division
.
Sheriff Joe is already a national folk hero to many people. If this keeps up he will be a national saint. It will be interesting to see who blinks first. I doubt if it will be Sheriff Joe. There has to be a better way than this. In Sheriff Joe’s case, it seems like he wins regardless of what he does.
Just as millions have rolled in to help Arizona with it’s fight against the US Department of Tyranny, so the millions will roll in for Sheriff Joe. The suit against AZ is maddening. This is absolutely infuriating. Nothing less than the immediate resignation of Holder will suffice here.
I agree. Holder needs to go.
Nothing makes voters happier than knowing the country’s guns are pointed inwards.
I don’t believe Sheriff Joe discriminates. I think he punishes all his prisoners equally.
I do find it ironic that DOJ says, “It is unfortunate that the department was forced to resort to litigation to gain access to public documents and facilities,” when the Administration has continued the States Secrets doctrine.
Filing suit against Sheriff Joe while the the Obama Administration’s suit against Arizona’s S.B. 1070 is still in the Federal courts is curious enough, given the lack of actual cases/complaints, but to then hold up the Arizona law – before its testing in Court – as a problem – and an exception to the Obama Administrations – er, America’s steller record on civil rights and our commitment to values and immigration before the UN Human Rights Council has got to give you —pause. Who or what are these people?
http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/146379.pdf
Democrats performing seppuku before they get run over.
I’ll give you credit here Moon. I did not think you would post this thread.
I cannot wait to see how Mr. Ed, Sivers-me Mathews and the other Misnitnews folks spin this one.
It’s about time the Justice Dept did something about the documents they have been requesting. Sherrif Joe seems like such a “rule of law” kinda guy, I guess only HIS rule of law.
Sherrif Joe loves the cameras and attention(sorta like someone from our area). My guess is his reaction was “what took you so long”.
Getting rid of HOlder won’t solve your problem. The next AG will simply pick up the case and continue.
It’s an interesting case. Rule of law does only work when its laws people like. His fans will rally around him for sure as is evidenced here.
@Elena
Agreed.
If his fans were treated the way he treats immigrants, they most likely would not be fans anymore whether they entered the U.S. illegally or illegally.
I have a revolutionary idea: How about if the Obama administration did something meaningful to address illegal immigration rather than to attack jurisdictions they have essentially abandoned by refusing to deal with the problem?
Going after Sheriff Joe now? Two months before an off-year election which promises to be as bitterly contested as any in recent memory — an election in which the control of Congress could be at stake? Madness in D.C. Or, perhaps a sign that the administration is throwing in the 2010 electoral towel and taking the longer look toward 2012.
DOJ will win the legal battle. The sheriff will win the PR battle. A sad commentary. Of course, DOJ has no choice. As much as this may hurt the Administration politically, they took oaths to enforce the law.
Scout is right, in my opinion.
If I were Obama I would have waited until the middle of Nov. but that’s me.
Emma, I think probably Obama needs to sell what he is doing a lot better. They are going after employers left and right but just aren’t letting the public know about it.
The entire AZ issue from start to finish is about an election.
I don’t know why anyone would be surprised that I would post this article. It’s headline news and no other blogs have run with it.
You mean, like, immigration laws? They took oaths to enforce those laws?
No, it was about time for Sheriff Joe to join the rest of the sane folks and give Obama and his administration the big old middle finger.
I would say he has been doing that all along.
I refuse to believe that DOJ has no leeway as to exactly when to file a case, especially when you are talking about a relatively short period of a couple of months. Perhaps we can get Mo Davis to address this point.
I have already said I would have waited rather than doing it Sept. before an election with a guy who already is a folk hero. I would have aimed for middle of NOv.
And that is not taking anyone’s side. It just seems like common political sense to me.
AZ is all about the election anyway.
Using the Justice Department to intimidate local law enforcement officials is also a concern here. I agree Moon, it is all about the election and the Administration’s perception, I think, that they can influence (pay-off) the latino vote by going hard on folks like Sheriff Joe. I am sure it is a coincedence that the immigration flow data was issued too – or that Mr. Ed and Shivers Mathews picked up on that and not the suit against Sheriff Joe.
With regard to the Pew Research on illegal immigration – wouldn’t you agree that that has much more to do with the economy than it does anyhing the Administration has done in terms of law enforcement.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/aug/31/signs-in-arizona-warn-of-smuggler-dangers/
“The federal government has posted signs along a major interstate highway in Arizona, more than 100 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border, warning travelers the area is unsafe because of drug and alien smugglers, and a local sheriff says Mexican drug cartels now control some parts of the state.
The signs were posted by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) along a 60-mile stretch of Interstate 8 between Casa Grande and Gila Bend, a major east-west corridor linking Tucson and Phoenix with San Diego.
They warn travelers that they are entering an “active drug and human smuggling area” and they may encounter “armed criminals and smuggling vehicles traveling at high rates of speed.” Beginning less than 50 miles south of Phoenix, the signs encourage travelers to “use public lands north of Interstate 8” and to call 911 if they “see suspicious activity.”
Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu, whose county lies at the center of major drug and alien smuggling routes to Phoenix and cities east and west, attests to the violence. He said his deputies are outmanned and outgunned by drug traffickers in the rough-hewn desert stretches of his own county.”
I would say economy and border enforcement. (not just current administration) Additionally, the Obama administration is hammering the employers using technology.
Its not all that easy getting in.
For every Ed Schultz there are 5 counterparts out there. Why let him bother you? Does Geraldo bother you? He is on now. I would listen to anyone rather than Hannity, Retchin’ Gretchen, and Loosey Doocy. Just a personal preference. Did I leave out Meggy? Ugh.
We probably do. I think firing people is fairly hammer-like.
What would you have them do?
I believe that Sheriff Babeu of Pinal County has had a contract put out on his life by the Mexican Mafia. Sheriff Joe is the other guy in the MM crosshairs.