Sheriff Joe Demands Feds Name Victims Of His Racial Discrimination

In response to the findings by the Department of Justice that Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s office engaged in a pattern and practice of racial profiling and political retaliation, Arpaio is demanding the DOJ identify by name “each and every” resident investigators interviewed that accused the MCSO of racial discrimination.

Arpaio has been defiant and uncooperative throughout this investigation, so this latest move should come as no surprise.

Attorneys for the Justice Department certainly didn’t seem surprised by the move. DOJ spokeswoman Xochitl Hinojosa said that the findings of the Civil Rights Division show “show a clear violation of the Constitution and federal law, and are more than sufficient to file a complaint against a law enforcement agency.”

The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, she continued, “purports not to understand the underlying basis for the findings when MCSO’s own actions and documents form the basis of these findings. “If MCSO wants to debate the facts instead of fixing the problems stated in our findings, we will do so by way of formal litigation,” Hinojosa said. “MCSO’s repeated delays in this investigation resulted in further violations of the Constitution.”

Given Arpaio’s intransigence, and given that the case built by DOJ appears strong and largely based on Arpaio’s own documents and witness accounts, this is a matter that is going to trial. The further cornered and threatened Arpaio feels the harder he’ll fight, and given that the tide has turned against his particular brand of hate, we should expect quite a fight.

Sheriff Joe’s Culture of Bias

Photo from Gage Skidmore via flickr.

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
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Ann S.

11:30PM PST on Jan 18, 2012

Well, these are very serious charges against him. I would expect anyone being accused of what he is to ask for this information. Hopefully, justice will be well served in this court case.

send a green star

Chad A.

3:57AM PST on Jan 17, 2012

Arpaio has made a career out of applying hard pressure to the most vulnerable and least powerful in his community. At the very least, he should open himself to the same kind of scrutiny that he has demanded of others. The police have a difficult job, but it seems like a reasonable and open question whether those who should be held to the highest of standards should be demonizing those in their charge.

Steve N.

2:41AM PST on Jan 9, 2012

When our new President is sworn in on January 20, 2013, he should consider Arpaio for the position of Attorney General.

Dr C.

8:45PM PST on Jan 8, 2012

The assistant attorney general of the civil rights division, said that the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office engaged in “unconstitutional policing” at every level, from deputies to the sheriff himself, racially profiled Latinos and made unlawful stops, detentions and arrests of Latinos.

It backs up those charges with tens of thousands of pages of evidence and interviews with more than 400 people, including 75 current and former personnel in the sheriff’s office.

So it's not just uppity people of color , but 75 of his own sheriff's office staff calling him out,
As I hear it , he started is own "birther" investigation against the president as well.

What a piece of work.

Jane B.

9:36PM PST on Jan 7, 2012

Hogwash, he just did his job. Criminals always scream racism, it's a cop out. Criminals need to find some other excuse to hide behind. That one is old and moldy.

Michael C.

3:34PM PST on Jan 7, 2012

Steve R, The inquiry into his Arapio's Departments for their inane, reckless behavior has been going on for years and is well documented. It appears that in the post 911 atmosphere no one was willing to take the matter to the courts. I believe that there was the fear of a negative portrayal, a fear of being viewed as unAmerican.

His Departments behavior is at the very heart of the Governments case, we, Arizonians have long witnessed his behavior and wondered. The Question that remains why has it taken the U.S. Government so long to act.

The article should have pointed out that Mexican American Citizens have been profiled by Arapio's Sheriffs and yes, many took exception to being treated as an illegal. In many cases, the victims refused to offer identification, on the grounds that they had committed no offense.

Often times, the officers had absolutely no true reason to stop the victim, while walking or driving, other than the fact of the color of their skin.

We should not dispute this action but applaud it, let us usher in to the discussion, some sanity and righteousness.

Josephine C.

8:21AM PST on Jan 7, 2012

Send Joe to The Hague. The International Criminal Court is quite experienced to deal with people like him.

John M.

7:18AM PST on Jan 7, 2012

Why all this "to do" over "ILLEGAL ALIEN" arrests? Or should the good sheriff,just let them go?
Good work,great sheriff...

mary l.

6:24AM PST on Jan 7, 2012

Joe may not be perfect but who is. There are more people in Arizona that like Joe and he will get voted in again. He has the balls to do the right thing that our federal government fails to do. I will continue to support Joe and so will many thousands here in Arizona. Our worthless president has one adenda and he refuses to enforce laws that are already in place for his benefit only. Thank you Joe for having balls that our president is lacking and thanks for protecting the people of Arizona.

Dominic C.

12:55AM PST on Jan 7, 2012

Defiance attitude will not resolve the problems for MCSO. I am not sure the county office can moreover sustain such a fight even though the state of Arizona may be putting their resources for the county. If Maricopa drains all these resources because of one defiant sheriff, one may wonder whether such actions are valiant.