Courthouse News Service was the first to catch notice of two lawsuits just filed in federal and state court, respectively, by a Hispanic mom whose jaw was busted during an MCSO immigration raid, and a man allegedly run over by an MCSO deputy. The first case is one you’re familiar with…
Thanks to the work of a horde of Cottonwood crackers, the enchanting Mago Earth Park sculpture representing the Korean version of Mother Earth will be dismantled by February 24, according to Jennifer Sing, a spokeswoman for the Tao Fellowship, which built the park as part of a planned retreat. Already,…
I’ve blogged previously about Sheriff Joe’s stumping for right-wing candidates for sheriff in Southern California, specifically for Jay LeSuer in San Diego County, and for Bill Hunt in Orange County. Now at least one of Hunt’s fellow candidates regards Arpaio’s endorsement as a liability in the OC race.According to a…
District Court Judge G. Murray Snow has ordered sanctions in the big Melendres v. Arpaio racial profiling lawsuit still ongoing in federal court. The sanction addresses in a very measured way the systematic destruction of documents by members of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, even after all documents pertaining to…
Squirm though he will, Sheriff Joe is still on the legal chopping block for violating the civil rights of Sgt. Thomas Lovejoy, the Chandler cop Arpaio had arrested and dragged through court on a bogus claim of animal cruelty. This, in the heat-related death of Lovejoy’s K-9 pooch Bandit.That’s the…
Kris Kobach, defensive and dodgy in this Fox 10 interview Fox 10 News has posted a 13 minute interview that reporter Steve Krafft recently did with nativist law prof Kris Kobach, the guy who’ll be “training” all 881 of Sheriff Joe’s gendarmes on immigration law. It’s an interesting watch, if…
Hot on the heels of news that Wells Fargo wants Joe Arpaio out of his pricey executive suites in the bank’s downtown Phoenix tower, human rights activist Salvador Reza is raising the stakes, asking that Attorney General Eric Holder seek receivership over the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, effectively taking control of the day-to-day operations…
As disturbing as the prospect is of a nativist extremist lawyer like Kris Kobach training all 881 of Sheriff Joe’s beigeshirts in immigration law, I have to wonder if it’s a sign that Arpaio’s throwing in the towel on the big Melendres vs. Arpaio racial-profiling lawsuit now underway in federal court…
Oral arguments took place February 4 regarding a sanctions motion from the plaintiffs in the big Melendres vs. Arpaio racial profiling lawsuit now underway. I had to be out of town on an assignment, and so could not attend the verbal donnybrook, but I did obtain a transcript of the proceedings,…
Sheriff Joe Arpaio sent a letter to his supporters recently, urging them to give the “liberal” John McCain the boot and vote for McCain’s probable primary opponent, extreme-right-wing radio host and former Congressman J.D. Hayworth.It seems “the Maverick” isn’t conservative enough for America’s self-proclaimed “toughest sheriff,” and he’s throwin’ his support…
The welcome news that Tucson missionary Robert Park has returned home after being imprisoned for six weeks by the North Korean government has been splattered across the Internet, and rightly so. The 28 year-old crossed over into North Korea from China on Christmas Day to draw attention to what he…
There’s absolutely no doubt that Mark Spencer, head of the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association, has turned the police union into an anti-immigration juggernaut. Spencer has been a tireless backer of state Senator (and neo-Nazi hugger) Russell Pearce’s efforts to turn all law enforcement officers in Arizona into immigration agents. He’s one of…
The DREAM Act should be a no-brainer for even those anti-immigration types out there. Why shouldn’t we try to keep smart, law-abiding kids here in the U.S. after we’ve educated them? Talk about model citizens and patriots! Many of these young men and women are even willing to serve in…
I’ve always dreamed of riding a nuclear payload right into enemy territory a la Slim Pickens in Dr. Strangelove (whatever “enemy territory” is these days), and I’m a step closer because of the efforts of former East Valley Tribune columnist Le Templar and his new bosses at the Goldwater Institute here in Phoenix. See,…
A pack of MCSO detention officers — some of them 287(g)-trained — walk Garcia-Martinez into a room to get her fingerprint on an ICE document.I recently watched with great skepticism and annoyance ICE honcho John Morton’s videotaped remarks to the Migration Policy Institute in Washington. There, on January 25, the…
We’ll say this for Ruth McGregor, the newly appointed “special master” for the ongoing county legal disputes: She does not mess around.Just a few days ago, McGregor summarily rejected Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas’ request that she order the hiring of “celebrity prosecutors” to handle the cases against Supervisors Don…
Barack Obama achieved the presidency in part because of the votes of U.S. Hispanics. According the Pew Hispanic Center, 67 percent of Latinos voted for Obama over John McCain in 2008. And yet, the Obama administration has given little more than lip-service to an issue that directly affects the extended…
To cop and alter a line from Mel Brooks’ History of the World, Part I, the rednecks are revolting! Yeah, man, they stink on ice.Like you needed more proof that Arizona’s chock full of backwards, toothless puddin’heads who freak at the mere suggestion of any culture other than their own, along…
A new BRC Rocky Mountain Poll shows Sheriff Joe’s approval rating slipping in Maricopa County, though I find the poll’s claim that Arpaio’s popularity has collapsed to be premature. Countywide, only 39 percent of respondents rate Arpaio’s performance as “good” or “very good.” That’s way down from the 54 percent…
Sheriff Arpaio’s flacks are usually full of it, churning out press release after press release with the sole purpose of puffing up Joe’s jowly profile for the public. But once in a blue billy goat, they actually make a point, as was done with the January 21, 2010 press release, “Sheriff…
Usually, folks like to compare Sheriff Joe to rather nefarious historical figures, you know, like Bull Connor, Idi Amin, Augusto Pinochet, Benito Mussolini (well, they’re both Italian), and so on. But the Man from Galilee? The Prince of Peace? The Light of This World? Jesus Christ himself? That’s the insanity…
According to the Rep’s E.J. Montini, if you oppose Sheriff Joe Arpaio and you lose at the polls, you should just keep your gob shut.Wow, talk about a mouthpiece for the little old ladies in Sun City, and Arizona’s reactionary, nativist contingent. Montini’s certainly earned his many pizzas from Arpaio…
