What An Absurd Lawsuit Against Sheriff Arpaio

What An Absurd Lawsuit Against Sheriff Arpaio

I've long respected Maricopa County (Arizona) Sheriff Arpaio for doing what he can to enforce the laws--and sometimes being very creative in how he does it. As Crimes, Gun, and Videotape explained a while back:

The problem the good sheriff had was that his deputies were paying parking fees or getting citations on county cars at the Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport. The deputies need to pick up many freshly extradited prisoners there wanted for felony matters to deposit in Sheriff Joe’s jail.

The problem was that the City of Phoenix refused to cooperate by ending their parking fee extortion against the county cops.

Fighting Extortion With Extortion

The City of Phoenix just unveiled their new light rail mass transportation system with service to Sky Harbor Airport. City officials are feverishly trying to get the public to use the new system. Sheriff Joe could not wait to oblige and help them with their public relations campaign. I don’t think Sheriff Joe’s publicity idea was what the city politicians were looking for to increase ridership.

Sheriff Joe announced he had a way to save $75,000.00 per year in airport parking costs. He pulled off yet another media stunt announcing his deputies would begin using the light rail to transport felons. With TV news cameras in tow the resourceful Sheriff went along as his well armed deputies picked up a hapless wanted felon from Sky Harbor Airport transporting her by light rail to his jail.

The thought of Sheriff Joe expanding the program to include jailed chain-gangs being sent to work sites worked incredibly well to get city official’s minds right. They agreed to let deputies park their vehicles at the airport without charge while there on official business.

Maricopa County has a big problem with crimes committed by illegal aliens (as do many cities and counties across the United States). Arpaio worked out an arrangement a while back to have his deputies cross-trained by ICE (the federal agency that now almost enforces immigration law). His deputies are now arresting large numbers of illegal aliens, and speeding up their deportation. So what is Obama's Department of Justice doing? According to March 12, 2009 CNSNews:

(CNSNews.com) - The Department of Justice (DOJ) has launched an investigation of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office in Arizona following requests by congressional Democrats and allegations by liberal activists that the department has violated the civil rights of illegal aliens.

Reps. John Conyers (D-Mich.), Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), and Robert Scott (D-Va.) requested the investigation, and activists groups such as National Day Laborer Organizer Network and ACORN launched petition drives and rallies in support of the probe.

The investigation focuses on Sheriff Joe Arpaio and dozens of officers under his command who were trained through the Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Agreements of Cooperation in Communities to Enhance Safety and Security (ACCESS), which partners federal and local law enforcement to enforce immigration laws. (The Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement division is known popularly as ICE.)

In a letter dated March 10, 2009, Loretta Smith, acting assistant attorney general at the DOJ, detailed what her department would be investigating:

"This is to inform you that the United States Department of Justice is commencing an investigation of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office (''MCSO'') pursuant to the pattern or practice provisions of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994,42 U.S.C. §14141 ("Section 14141") and the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968,42 U.S.C. § 3789d ("Safe Streets Act"), and pursuant to the prohibitions against national origin discrimination in Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,42 U.S.C. §§ 2000d to 2000d-7 ("Title Yr') and the Safe Streets Act, 42 U.S.C. § 3789d(c)."

The letter continues: "The investigation will focus on alleged patterns or practices of discriminatory police practices and unconstitutional searches and seizures conducted by the MCSO, and on allegations of national origin discrimination, including failure to provide meaningful access to MCSO services for limited English proficient (LEP) individuals."

"In conducting the investigation, we will seek to determine whether there are violations of the above laws by the MCSO," the letter says.

Sheriff Arpaio's efforts to enforce immigration laws have been the focus of previous criticism, but Arpaio has defended his department and the results his ICE-trained officers have netted.

Concerning the DOJ’s investigation, Arpaio told CNSNews.com: “I will not back down. What I am doing is upholding the laws of the state of Arizona, and I will not be persuaded to turn my back on my oath of office as sheriff of this county.”

Let me guess: his officers are using that a person doesn't speak English as a basis for asking if they have ID? Perhaps they are assuming that because you don't speak the language of this country, that there is a possibility that you might not be a lawful resident? By itself, of course, that's not enough, but if you have already been stopped for a violation of law, asking a couple of questions and doing a records check seems unobjectionable.