Joe Arpaio

[Jan]

Luke, if you can read the following and the whole story, in context, I would love to hear your comments.  The link and an excerpt from page 2 of the article.
http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2008-09-11/news/was-juan-mendoza-farias-beaten-to-death-by-sheriff-joe-arpaio-s-guards/1

The MCSO has not only withheld evidence of suspicious deaths, its employees have tampered with evidence, according to the testimony of one former employee.

Charles Agster was a mildly retarded 33-year-old. His parents asked police to pick him up when he wouldn't leave a convenience store.

Agster died after eight jail guards roughed him up and slammed him into a restraint chair (In 2006, a jury awarded his family $9 million after a wrongful-death verdict.).

During the Agster trial, lawyers revealed that jail employees created a fake booking ID so they could alter the answers to Agster's intake questions.

Jail staff also changed records so they could claim Agster was suicidal, banging his head against the floor, and acting intoxicated. During the 2006 trial, it was revealed that those records had been created after Agster died.

Nurse Betty Lewis testified that she was instructed by jail healthcare staff to alter Agster's records — so that his death wouldn't look as suspicious.

As with the other deaths mentioned in this story, the guards involved in Agster's death were never disciplined by the sheriff — even after they were found liable for inmates' deaths.

"Eight of the eight detention officers were found liable. Zero were disciplined. Six have been promoted," Manning says.

Dunno if you'll hear from Luke.  On NHLA he wrote:  First of all Ian it looks like you finally got your way as far as NHfree is concerned, because it looks like I've been banned (again), and this time I can't even get on from my father's computer like I could last time. This happening a week after Lloyd Danforth said they didn't ban people for their opinions. hmph. Well maybe they'll let me back on in 2 months like they did last time and then lie to me that they never banned me like they did last time.

[Kat Kanning]

He was never banned before, just retarded.

[Jan]

He was never banned before, just retarded.

[Pat McCotter]

Feds' new tone puts Arpaio in hot seat
D.C. leaders now more likely to hear profiling complaints
by Dan Nowicki - Mar. 15, 2009 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

Few are feeling the change that President Barack Obama has brought to Washington more acutely than Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

Not yet two months into the Obama administration, the veteran Republican lawman finds himself under investigation by the Justice Department following complaints that his office employs unconstitutional practices in enforcing immigration laws. On Capitol Hill, a high-profile congressional committee is preparing to hold an investigative hearing into whether Arpaio's operation discriminates against Latinos. And, based at least partly on Arpaio's record, the Homeland Security Department is revising the rules of the federal program, known as 287(g), that gives federal immigration-enforcement authority to Arpaio and other local officials around the country.

The controversial and popular five-term sheriff chalks the probes up to politics. But others say a renewed focus on civil rights has prompted the scrutiny.

Attorney General Eric Holder made it clear in his Senate confirmation hearing that he intended to make safeguarding civil rights a priority again. Holder's previous tenure at the Justice Department, as a deputy attorney general during President Bill Clinton's administration, was marked by a keen attention to police racial-profiling complaints.

Racial-profiling complaints were virtually ignored during President George W. Bush's eight-year term. And the Justice Department's inspector general recently blistered the Civil Rights Division for the unlawful politicization of personnel actions during the Bush era. Laura Sweeney, a Justice Department spokeswoman, declined to characterize the Arpaio inquiry as the administration's first major probe, saying that would be "a bit subjective." She confirmed that the Civil Rights Division has opened other investigations since Holder took office.

"Both in tone and in content, the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division has changed dramatically," said Paul Charlton, who was U.S. attorney for Arizona from 2001 to 2006 and now represents Maricopa County Supervisor Don Stapley in a criminal case brought by Arpaio and Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas. Stapley maintains he is innocent of the charges, which relate to real-estate and business deals that prosecutors allege were not properly disclosed.

One outside expert doubted that Arpaio is the victim of political persecution by the Civil Rights Division, particularly in light of the report that exposed politics-related abuses in the Bush Justice Department. The findings, based on a joint investigation by the department's Office of the Inspector General and Office of Professional Responsibility, were made public in January.

"There is an increased sensitivity to wanting to have a Civil Rights Division that is active but not politically influenced," said Rebecca Lonergan, a former assistant U.S. attorney and Justice Department insider who is now an adjunct assistant professor at the University of Southern California's Gould School of Law. "I do not believe that they would be dumb enough to open this investigation as a political decision. It would be extremely bad timing."

A political target?

Critics of Arpaio and his illegal- immigration-related crime-suppression sweeps and workplace raids are cheering the shift in the political winds.

"Our sense is that finally - finally - there is reception in Washington," said Monica Sandschafer, state director of Arizona ACORN, a chapter of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. "Finally there is an administration that is interested in holding people accountable for the Constitution and the rule of law."

But Arpaio suggests he is a political target of Democrats, saying that by vilifying him as a racial profiler, they are trying to achieve a larger goal of scrapping or radically altering the 287(g) program. The program was created under Clinton but wasn't promoted until after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, during the Bush administration.

The Democratic Obama administration, Arpaio said, gives new clout to the sheriff's political foes such as Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon, who nearly a year ago asked for a federal probe of the sheriff, and Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox. Obama's Homeland Security secretary is Janet Napolitano, who, even if not directly involved, can provide the Justice Department with valuable institutional knowledge about Arpaio based on her experience working with him in Arizona in her previous roles as U.S. attorney, state attorney general and governor.

It's understandable that the Justice Department is feeling pressure from the various politicians clamoring for action, Arpaio said.

"Everyone who is making an issue is a Democrat," Arpaio said. "The big problem is the 287(g). I'm the most active (participant), the largest with 160 officers, and they're using me as a poster boy.

"They're using me as a catalyst to make an issue of this, hoping that they can get something on me and my deputies on racial profiling so they can say, 'See what happens under 287(g).' "

Arpaio also is drawing criticism from the Democrat-controlled House Judiciary Committee, where partisanship often flares. But here, too, observers say Rep. John Conyers Jr., D-Mich., the panel's chairman, is motivated by a long-term commitment to civil rights. Conyers, like Holder, is Black.

"I don't think you can discount the importance of race here. Conyers is an old civil-rights veteran," said Rodolfo Espino, an assistant political science professor at Arizona State University. "You have two African-Americans looking at this who are very cognizant of civil rights and what African-Americans went through."

Hearing in April

Sandschafer and Alicia Navejar, another Arizona ACORN leader and Arpaio critic, were in Washington on Wednesday as Conyers announced that he will hold a hearing on Arpaio in April. The development came the day after the Justice Department probe was revealed. Conyers previously had urged Holder and Napolitano to investigate Arpaio.

Navejar was energized after speaking at the Conyers news conference, saying she hopes Arpaio is "taken to justice."

"I was just so excited to be part of something that is going to make a difference to not only just one person or two people but to thousands of lives," said Navejar, a naturalized U.S. citizen who lives in Phoenix. "I can see what it has done (to Latino families)."

Yet Arpaio's immigration crackdowns are wildly popular, and he was re-elected in November by a wide margin.

Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., a Judiciary Committee member, worries that hearings will exploit racial fears for partisan political gain.

"I think they would like to try to paint all Republicans as racist and motivated by things like racial profiling," Franks said. "I have not seen one iota of evidence that the sheriff has done anything but enforce the law on the basis that he is trying to protect the people within the county he serves."

Franks echoed Arpaio's suggestion that the 287(g) program is a target. "A big goal of the liberal Democrats in Congress is to try to do away with any effective cooperation to enforce federal immigration laws," he said.

[KBCraig]

Arpaio is the darling of the law-and-order crowd, especially those who want to keep immigrants out.

This reputation has allowed him to carry on, despite the fact that he's a bully, a mafioso, a corrupt abuser, and a political boss of the old school.

[AntonLee]

yeah, and his tent city is notorious.  That helps him with the law and order douches.

[J’raxis 270145]

Obama going after Arpaio probably is political.

So what?
He deserves whatever he gets.

[AntonLee]

Sheriff Joe gets no sympathy from me. 

[Pat McCotter]

Gor those with TV and access to Fox Business, Joe Arpaio is on Glenn Beck now - after 5:30.

[firecracker joe]

joe arpio is on a documentary called "American drug war:the last white hope" a documentary on the drug war and how the cia was / is behind bringing drugs into the states and is reposible for the drug war by way of profits it is an excellent documentary and if Joe knew what the doc. was about he never would have allowed them to interview him but he did and he pretty much says he feels all drug offenders should be in his dessert tents working on chain gangs for slave wages. This doc. will open your eyes to americas drug problem if you are still in the dark. Joe Arpio sucks and he should be liveing in a tent!

[AntonLee]

everytime there's something new in this thread I can only hope it's details for his funeral and where to send flowers.

[firecracker joe]

Flowers? how bout a can of dog food or bag of dog shit. Lets hope he takes the swine flu shot, pronto

[Pat McCotter]

Rank-and-file county staff reveal fear of Sheriff Joe Arpaio
by Yvonne Wingett - Jan. 29, 2010 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

As conflicts between Maricopa County's Board of Supervisors and the sheriff and county attorney escalated in 2009, rank-and-file county employees were plunged into a yearlong emotional roller coaster.

This month's announcement of a federal grand jury entering the fray brought county workers some relief and hope for an end to the extraordinary tensions. The grand jury is looking into allegations of abuse of power by Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his chief deputy, David Hendershott, in their dealings with judges and county officials.

Now, as they wait to see what will happen, a cross-section of county employees spoke with The Arizona Republic, talking publicly for the first time about life inside the county offices during the political battles, lawsuits and arrests going on above them at the highest levels of county government. Most have little connection to the conflicts. Still, their runaway fears were such that they worried that Arpaio's deputies would come after them as well.

Fears first spiked in December 2008, when county administrators spent $10,000 to sweep county offices for illegal wiretaps they worried had been installed by Arpaio. None was found. But rank-and-file workers still became terrified of possible surveillance, lawsuits or even arrest. Arpaio's frequent retort to critics that the innocent had nothing to worry about did not allay their concerns.

Unsure what or whom to believe, many county workers quit talking about sensitive matters on the telephone or in e-mails, even when using their personal home computers.

Conversation in hallways and elevators stopped.

Some feared they would be arrested while pulling into the same parking garage where deputies took Supervisor Don Stapley into custody.

Others worried that even minor infractions - a chipped windshield, having a beer before driving home after work - would be an excuse for deputies to pull them over or arrest them.

One Superior Court judge moved meetings with her staff and other judges to the chamber restroom, believing it would be a less likely spot for a listening device.

Working for a county often at war with itself put employees on edge and stressed relationships with co-workers and spouses.

Anxiety at work

Worries took hold at work immediately after the wiretap sweeps and grew through 2009 with each exchange among the sheriff, board and county attorney.

As a compensation supervisor, Darrien Ellison spends a lot of time researching money requests from the Sheriff's Office.

In the course of his normal work over the past year, he denied two pay-raise requests for a high-ranking Sheriff's Office employee. Later, the thought crossed his mind several times that authorities might come after him. When he had to call sheriff's staff, he assumed he was being recorded. "Who knows what they would use from a conversation on one of their employees against me," he said.

Dexter Thomas is a senior management and budget analyst who works with the judicial branch's budgets.

He loved his job, but then, the easygoing atmosphere at work changed. After wiretap sweeps around him on the 10th floor, Thomas wondered who might be spying on him.

He instructed his wife and daughter to never call him on his work phone. He stopped using e-mail for personal matters. When colleagues copied him on chain e-mails, he asked to be removed from the distribution list in case authorities were reading his e-mails.

"You never know who's watching," Thomas said. "You look over your shoulder before you push the button to the 10th floor. And I don't talk to anyone anymore."

Supervisor Max Wilson was once an Arpaio supporter, even volunteering for years as a member of Arpaio's volunteer-posse program.

But as the infighting intensified, so did Wilson's stress levels. He braced for his own arrest. His wife, like many county worker spouses, tensed up whenever sheriff's cars cruised through the neighborhood.

In March 2009, Arpaio warned in a speech that Wilson "better be careful on cutting my budget." Wilson took that as a threat and pulled in his chief of staff to talk about whether he should resign.

Wilson stopped volunteering with the posse. Later, his son-in-law also turned in his posse-member badge.

Fears at home

Fear followed employees home. Many talked with their wives, husbands and children to warn them deputies might show up or follow them around town.

Marla Schofield is a compensation analyst who studies salary data and personnel information. At first, she doubted sheriff's deputies would ever have a reason to contact her.

Then, the battles heated up over the county's decision to build a new court complex.

Deputies showed up at her home twice one summer weekend to ask questions. She didn't answer the door. A deputy left his business card on her car windshield, just below a crack in the glass.

Later, she went out for groceries and gas. She scanned the road and parking lots for sheriff's deputies. She worried the card was strategically placed to send her a message about the cracked windshield, "a tactic to pull me over."

She quickly had the crack repaired.

Compensation supervisor Darrien Ellison and his family were away visiting in-laws last summer on the day deputies came to his house to question him.

When he didn't come to the door, deputies talked to his neighbor. They asked about Ellison and his job at the county. Later, Ellison felt like some kind of suspicion had been cast on his family.

"Your neighbors obviously probably think something has been done wrong," he said, asking how does anyone explain that it's "just politics."

Lee Ann Bohn is a deputy budget director. She led last year's budget negotiations with the Sheriff's Office. Later, while she was out of town with her two daughters, sheriff's deputies questioned employees from her department. Her personal cellphone voicemail filled up with messages from workers asking for help. One employee was so rattled she could barely speak.

From then on, Bohn was extra careful about driving under the speed limit. She also took good care of her swimming pool so it didn't turn green and provide anyone an excuse to enter her property.

Stress takes a toll

As the conflicts continued through 2009, the months of fear at work and home took its toll on county employees.

Scott Isham is chief of staff to Wilson. He tried not to let fear of arrest take hold of his family or staff. But, as time went on, he also tried to be realistic.

Isham called a criminal defense attorney for advice. He asked how much it would cost to get him out of jail. He put the attorney's phone numbers in his cellphone and business cards in his car. Regular after-work beers with his buddies ended. Isham told his wife to be careful. No U-turns. Never leave the kids in the car when returning videos. Who knows what they might call child endangerment?

Kenny Harris oversees construction of the county's court tower. It's the most expensive project in county history, a major point of contention between the warring factions of the county and the target of one of Arpaio's investigations.

In December, Harris got a panicked call from his 70-year-old mother-in-law. Deputies had been at the door of their home. His two young daughters asked if he was in trouble.

As a budget supervisor, Ryan Wimmer works on financial matters involving the sheriff and county attorney.

Wimmer felt like a likely target. Early on, he didn't expect to be arrested or subpoenaed. But, after Stapley's arrest, Wimmer had more restless nights. Then, deputies came to his apartment with questions about the court-tower project.

Wimmer lay awake after that wondering: How would he find an attorney? How would he pay for an attorney?

Sometimes, Wimmer worked at home. He wondered if they could seize his home computer.

Wimmer stopped expressing any personal opinions about county officials and operations. He struggled to explain to his girlfriend and family what was happening at work.

"Everything I do," he said, "I just assume it will be used against me."

[Pat McCotter]

County officials, sheriff conflicts

Dec. 2, 2008: County Attorney Andrew Thomas and Sheriff Joe Arpaio announce Supervisor Don Stapley is indicted on 118 counts related to irregularities on his financial-disclosure forms.

Late December 2008: County officials pay $10,000 to sweep offices for illegal listening devices possibly placed by Arpaio. None is found.

Late January 2009: Arpaio files a public-records request asking for calendars, e-mails and copies of all work and cellphone logs of 36 county employees.

February : County officials pay $4,600 to sweep offices for illegal listening devices. Again, none are found.

March : Arpaio and Thomas for the first time acknowledge they are investigating the Board of Supervisors and top county administrators over the $340 million court-tower project.

May: Republic sources confirm the FBI interviewed public officials - including county employees - about whether Arpaio has abused his authority.

June 16: Arpaio tells The Republic that County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox is under investigation.

June through December: Deputies question county employees at their homes.

Sept. 21: Sheriff's deputies arrest Stapley on fraud charges. No charges are filed.

Nov. 12: Sheriff's officials ask for more county workers' records.

Dec. 1: Arpaio and Thomas file a civil suit in U.S. District Court against county administrators, elected officials, judges and attorneys. The suit alleges a widespread conspiracy that officials are hindering criminal investigations.

Dec. 8: Stapley and Wilcox are indicted on an array of charges. They later plead not guilty.

Dec. 9: Thomas files criminal charges against Superior Court Judge Gary Donahoe, accusing him of hindering prosecution, obstructing a criminal investigation and bribery.

Jan. 7: County Manager David Smith and Deputy County Manager Sandi Wilson confirm they will testify before a federal grand jury that is examining allegations of abuse of power by Arpaio and Chief Deputy David Hendershott.

-Yvonne Wingett

[Fluff and Stuff]

From reading that article, either those county workers either know they are doing a bunch a bad stuff, there are way too many laws in AZ or both.  Shame on them for not speaking out if they think there are way too many laws in AZ.