Chances are you’ll recognize Joe Arpaio by name. And if you don’t, his bio is likely to jog your memory. Known as ‘America’s Toughest Sheriff,’ Arpaio has angered the liberal Democrats in Congress with his tough-on-criminals approach. And now they plan to go after him:
House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) and three fellow Democrats want the Department of Justice to investigate civil rights complaints against controversial sheriff Joe Arpaio…
Conyers and his fellow committee members accuse Arpaio of ordering deputies to search largely Hispanic neighborhoods in and around Phoenix for illegal immigrants. Those in the Hispanic community, the lawmakers wrote, “feel under siege.”
Arpaio has denied wrongdoing, and he has praised the federal agreement, which has let his deputies arrest illegal immigrants. Arpaio told Arizona reporters he is worried Napolitano, who until being tapped by President Obama was Arizona’s governor, will reverse the policy.
Napolitano has asked for a review of the agreement, which allows local jurisdictions to enforce immigration laws, to inspect whether the program is being applied uniformally across the country.
Arpaio is accused of searching for illegal immigrants in and around Hispanic communities. But assuming that he is putting more resources into Hispanic communities, it’s presumably because that’s where his experience has shown more illegal immigrants to reside or congregate, rather than because he has an ax to grind with Hispanics. If for example, the data showed that illegal immigrants were more likely to be found in a caucasian community, I would expect Arpaio to search there, instead. But if critics want Arpaio to devote as much effort to apprehending illegal immigrants where they are rarely found, they’re not likely to get much sympathy from taxpayers who keep re-electing him.
Beyond that, it’s becoming clear that the newly-empowered Democrats in Washington are giddy with power and eager to use it to silence opposition. In just the last week, we’ve seen talk of reviving the Fairness Doctrine, and an effort by labor unions to impose a gag rule on financial institutions. Add that to the push for prosecution of those engaged in the War on Terror, and the continued pursuit of former administration officials over their communications with the president, and it’s clear that Congress wants to use the power of the state to silence those with whom they disagree.
Moe Lane
Dan McLaughlin
Neil Stevens
Daniel Horowitz
Somehow I don't think Joe Arpaio is worried...
JadedByPolitics (Diary) Monday, February 16th at 1:19PM EST (link)he has more class and more morals in his little pinkie than the whole of the Congress!
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Actully, this is a huge problem for Arpaio...
phxg (Diary) Monday, February 16th at 1:54PM EST (link)If the grant money and/or the classification that the MCSO holds to arrest illegals is rescinded, then all his efforts for the showboating of the “crime sweeps” will be eliminated.
I have to run now, but will be back for further input, but his efforts to arrest illegals has been at best a flop. Not for a lack of effort but because it is a media event, not a policing activity. Just last week he went into a business, had all the employees lined up and asked for “papers”. I have since found out thru my police contacts that less then 15 were illegals. But the problem isn;t the removal of these 15, or 150, but the fact that the JOB remains.
AZ has an employer sanctions law that has much more impact in that employers who are found to knowingly hire illegals are punished. That is the way to go because it eliminates the jobs that the illegals come for. But because Arpaio takes the “media whore” approach, the impact is negligible because he won;t expend the resources to build cases to use that law.
Neil and I have gone round and round about Arpaio. And while some of what he does is OK, I personally find him to be inept. I would HIGHLY recommend reading this policy report by the Goldwater Institute LINK (PDF)
And I’ll be back later for more after I get my head examined.
It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it. –Aristotle
Agree that it's a problem.
skorrent1 (Diary) Monday, February 16th at 3:30PM EST (link)Anytime the big guns in Congress come after you it is a problem. But they’re not after him because he doesn’t keep good records, or because he can’t deliver warrents, or any of the other things GI complains about.
They’re after him because he is trying to interfere with the free flow of illegals into and through his county. And, yes, MEDIA EVENTS are a part of discouraging this flow. It’s arguable whether building a case and taking a couple years in court to fine a business (inside pages of the business section) would have as much impact on this flow as a front page “BUSTED” headline (VIDEO AT 11) every week would have.
While that may be accurate...
phxg (Diary) Monday, February 16th at 6:54PM EST (link)The MCSO fails to keep adequate records, fails to maintain acceptable response times AND has been sued successfully many times over for improper treatment of detainees resulting in many deaths.
THAT is bad police work.
It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it. –Aristotle
And even that ...
skorrent1 (Diary) Monday, February 16th at 11:05PM EST (link)Is not why Congress will sic the feds on him!
By the way, does he still have the “Vacancy” sign out in front of the jail, or is he having to release felons because of overcrowding, like Kalefornia?
LOL, no the Vacancy sign is gone.
phxg (Diary) Tuesday, February 17th at 1:16AM EST (link)The jail isn;t overcrowded, but it is to capacity. From what I have been told, the city PD is opting to not arrest for minor crimes, but to issue citations because the MCSO will deny the intake.
The city of Phoenix PD is so fed up with the BS of the jail system they are exploring building their own jails.
It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it. –Aristotle
Go after the employers.
fmaidment (Diary) Monday, February 16th at 9:43PM EST (link)I agree, it’s far more effective to go after the employers of illegal aliens. If there are no jobs for illegals, they won’t come here illegally. The more we punish employers for hiring illegals, the better off everyone will be.
It’s all about incentives.
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“I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it.”
– - Thomas Jefferson, to Archibald Stuart, 1791
Yep. And that's why we passed the Employer Sanctions Law.
phxg (Diary) Monday, February 16th at 9:48PM EST (link)Unfortunately, the County Atty is weak when it comes to using it.
It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it. –Aristotle
It's just mind-boggling
bk (Diary) Monday, February 16th at 1:21PM EST (link)It’s the same as when police are targeting crime in mostly black areas and therefore called racist. Let’s see, aren’t the victims of crimes in black areas uh – what do you call them again – oh yeah blacks. So it’s racist to protect black victims from black criminals.
And it’s pretty funny that they say these neighborhoods in AZ feel that they are “under siege” because a few cops are patrolling there, while in a different part of AZ that rancher overrun by thousands of illegal border crossers is supposed to grin and bear it.
Great Point BK....
Attack Mode (Diary) Monday, February 16th at 1:34PM EST (link)They are making the criminal the victim and the real victim is considered the criminal.
Left is right, up is down. So goes the world on it’s slouch to Gomorrah.
“Land of the Free and Home of da Whopper” Peter Griffin…Family Guy
conform and celebrate diversity….or else!!!
Steel-Belted Radial Right Winger
“I’ll create 5 million jobs from out of unicorn farts and pixie dust” Justatron paraphrasing Obamessiah…yes I love it that much.
bk - making sense
mjon179 Monday, February 16th at 2:42PM EST (link)solid logic bk…law enforcement arresting illegals, this is a nation of laws. right?
Phoenix has 2nd highest kidnap rate in WORLD
kweiss01 Monday, February 16th at 1:56PM EST (link)…thanks to illegal immigration (http://www.ktar.com/?nid=6&sid=877515). I don’t know why this story doesn’t get more press — the statistics are outrageous. The Hispanic community there isn’t under siege from the police, they’re under siege from criminals streaming across the border. Arpaio needs more support from the feds, not less.
The kidnappings are usually rival drug gangs
izoneguy (Diary) Monday, February 16th at 2:40PM EST (link)who can come up with $200,000 or $300,000 in cash in less than 24 hours. In Phoenix it is almost one kidnapping per day.
Of course the problem is that the illegals got into the US in the first place. And this is just the ones reported. It might be 2 or 3 times higher. The cops are out manned and out gunned. I heard the Chief of Police won’t let cops carry rifles.
Too bad they want to give billions to ACORN so they can register those illegals in the 2010 Census that Obama wants to take over.
What Phoenix really needs is a fleet of these.
The point cannot be made often enough: Modern liberalism, as embodied in the Obama presidency, is the defender of the status quo. And the status quo is a road to economic ruin. Political forces cannot redistribute the wealth that the economic system does not produce.
Not Chief's Fault
red4ever (Diary) Monday, February 16th at 3:36PM EST (link)I caught an interview with the Phoenix Chief of Police. It’s not that he won’t let his cops carry rifles, it’s that there aren’t enough to go around. He just does not have the budget to buy the weaponry needed to take on the drug gangs. He is doing what he can with the budget he has. Besides, a rifle against an AK47 is still an unfair fight.
The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality.
Dante
That depends entirely...
fmaidment (Diary) Monday, February 16th at 9:46PM EST (link)…on who is wielding the rifle and who is wielding the AK. A well-trained soldier/sniper with a rifle is going to be a far more effective weapon than a street thug with an AK.
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“I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it.”
– - Thomas Jefferson, to Archibald Stuart, 1791
I think I agree
DefendUSA (Diary) Monday, February 16th at 2:03PM EST (link)In this case, Arpaio is willing to enforce and is not shy about it.
Alas, as we have seen with the 16 illegals suing a US homeowner for civil rights violations, he and the landowners are the criminals. WTF is right about any of that?
*starred thought*
To be a leader is to do the uncomfortable thing. Man up, Mr. President.
This is bigger than it seems
philottee Monday, February 16th at 2:37PM EST (link)The Sheriff is the closest-to-home example of what a Republic is.
While he is elected by the people, he is only beholden to the law.
When a sheriff stays on it is solely due to the belief that he was upright in that service to the people that he represents and is empowered to serve.
But, here we have the Federal powers over-reaching once again into, not just a State’s Rights issue, but the very essence of home rule. The rule of law is weak next to the rule of Congress.
All in the name of Rights.
I was surprised the statement didn’t mention “the children”
I'm reminded of a movie quote...
fmaidment (Diary) Monday, February 16th at 9:52PM EST (link)“Why should I trade one tyrant three-thousand miles away for three-thousands tyrants one mile away? An elected legislature can trample a mans rights as easy as any king.”
Mel Gibson as the fictional Benjamin Martin, The Patriot
Except in this case, it’s 535 tyrants 1920 miles away.
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“I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it.”
– - Thomas Jefferson, to Archibald Stuart, 1791
These people have too much time on their hands
mom2oneson (Diary) Monday, February 16th at 2:43PM EST (link)I am not excusing police violating people’s rights but I can’t believe they are bothering him for finding criminals.
Joe is nationally revered by L.E.O.s
UpLateAgain (Diary) Monday, February 16th at 3:23PM EST (link)I have been in Law Enforcement for over 25 years, and I can say unequivocally that Joe is revered nationally and throughout the industry as someone who takes a no nonsense approach to his profession. He has refused to allow politics to stand in the way of doing the right thing, and has withstood numerous law suits by the bleeding hearts over time.
He keeps getting re-elected in landslides (despite the Libs pulling out all stops in trying to defeat him) because the community he serves absolutely loves his forthrightness and unassailable logic. He’s seen (and I believe rightly so) as being not out to curry favor or feather his own nest, but rather to use any tool he has available to make his area of responsibility safer and generally improve quality of life for law-abiding citizens, at the lowest possible cost, wherever and however he can.
To cops across the country who constantly have to operate with their hands tied behind their backs in certain areas of enforcement, Joe is seen as a hero. Not just in immigration enforcement, but in the way he refuses to coddle those who victimize others….. and we spend a LOT of time explaining to victims why they are pretty-much just going to have to put up with being victims and without really getting any justice.
The problem isn’t that Joe is a loose cannon. The problem is that too few other L.E. CEOs refuse to follow his lead, mostly for political reasons or in some cases just because they lack moral courage.
In his own way, Joe is as popular on the right as anyone the Libs have is on the left, and I think if they want to take him on, they are going to find they have a tiger by the tail, and will just further serve to exacerbate the already considerable animus they have built up within the overall law enforcement community.
Obama may get the support of unions representing cops, and some Chief and Sheriff’s organizations, but nine out of ten beat cops that I know think Obama, Pelosi, Reid, and Co. are a complete disaster, and generally say things about them that I could not reprint here without being thrown off the Blog.
You never never never actually need a gun, until you need a gun, and then nothing else will do.
Joe Arpaio has been on The List
kowalski (Diary) Monday, February 16th at 7:11PM EST (link)In my mind, Joe Arpaio has been on The Enemies List for liberals since the day Harper’s published an article about him back in April of 2001. As I recally, the article itself wasn’t that badly imbalanced, but a lot of the people who read it are, and were. Now the Donks are in power, and it’s not a surprise to me that he’s gone back to the top of the Comeuppance List.
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Lots of University Liberals in particular
kowalski (Diary) Monday, February 16th at 7:19PM EST (link)Hate his guts. So he’s going to get dragged through a pile of broken glass in the next few months. Alternet is on it, so is DailyKos, but more important than those people are the law school professors who have wanted to see Arpaio dead and buried for his “crimes” against criminals for a long, long time now.
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The pink handcuffs
kowalski (Diary) Monday, February 16th at 7:22PM EST (link)The pink handcuffs really pissed a lot of homosexual ACLU law professors off.
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Yet
Rapunzel46 Tuesday, February 17th at 2:26AM EST (link)Joe usually endorses the democrat in the national races. Go figure, he supported the dems this time and now they are coming after him.
Here's the Joe the liberals would like to see
6eorge Jetson (Diary) Tuesday, February 17th at 7:46AM EST (link)They aren't stopping there
Menlo (Diary) Tuesday, February 17th at 1:42AM EST (link)Democrats in Congress have written Obama asking him to stop construction on the border fence. I’m surprised to see it ever got started. However, I have a feeling that is one “shovel-ready” project that was conveniently left out of the “stimulus.”
Meanwhile, the Obama administration indeed seems to be placing a priority on securing the borders – to our north.
“The ultimate touchstone of constitutionality is the Constitution itself and not what we have said about it.” -Felix Frankfurter