Two laid off journalists for the East Valley Tribune, a newspaper that still does investigative journalism, won a Pulitzer, for a series on Maricopa County's Sheriff and his controversial immigration policies which have compromised public safety throughout the county. The five part series, Reasonable Doubt, had previously won the George Polk award for justice reporting.
Sheriff Joe has become famous for his tough on crime stance and the theatrics of reinstating chain gangs and dressing detainees in pink underwear. He'e in his third term as sheriff and has been re-elected handily because....well, because Arizona and especially Maricopa County is full of right wingers.
This series puts a spotlight on the shift in MCSO's mission to concentrate on arresting primarily day worker illegal immigrants, rather than responding to and investigating violent crimes in the county.
Despite spending millions of taxpayer dollars, including rampant overtime spending that drove MCSO into financial crisis, the agency has little to show for its immigration sweeps, the series showed, other than the arrests of day laborers and low-level participants in human smuggling rings.
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The Pulitzer committee noted that Gabrielson and Giblin received the award for "their adroit use of limited resources to reveal, in print and online, how a popular sheriff’s focus on immigration enforcement endangered investigation of violent crime and other aspects of public safety."
The East Valley Tribune has been struggling as all newspapers have recently. One of the prize winning journalists, Paul Giblin was laid off in January from the East Valley Tribune. He with others have started a website called The Arizona Guardian which reports state legislative politics in AZ.(subscription)
I salute these reporters for tackling a scary situation in Maricopa County. Sheriff Joe is known to intimidate and investigate those who disagree or attempt to shine a light on his racist policies. Congratulations to these brave journalists.
Update: Here's a great link to the New Times, which has collected extensive information on Joe Arpaio, and often been the target of his ire.