Joe Arpaio, America's worst sheriff
(Gage Skidmore/
Flickr)
Big trouble for Arizona's ridiculous "
Sheriff Joe":
Arizona's Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, under the leadership of Sheriff Joe Arpaio, has engaged in systemic discrimination against Latinos with practices that violate federal law and the Constitution, the U.S. Justice Department announced Thursday.
A comprehensive investigation found the practices include "unlawful stops, detentions and arrests of Latinos," according to a Justice Department statement.
Via TPM, the actual report can be found here. From the report:
MCSO, through the actions of its deputies, supervisory staff, and command staff, engages in racial profiling of Latinos; unlawfully stops, detains, and arrests Latinos; and unlawfully retaliates against individuals who complain about or criticize MCSO's policies or practices [...]
MCSO, through the actions of its deputies, detention officers, supervisory staff, and command staff, routinely punishes Latino LEP inmates for failing to understand commands given in English and denies them critical services provided to other inmates [...]
[W]e have identified three additional areas of serious concern that, while not warranting a formal pattern or practice finding at the time, require further investigation. First, our investigation revealed a number of troubling incidents involving MCSO deputies using excessive force against Latinos. Second, we observed that MCSO has implemented its immigration enforcement program in a way that has created a "all of distrust" between MCSO officers and Maricopa County's Latino residence—a wall of distrust that has significantly compromised MCSO's ability to provide police protection to Maricopa County's Latino residents. Third, we have expanded our investigation to encompass a review of serious allegations that MCSO failed to investigate a large number of sex crimes.
Given the systemic nature of MCSO's constitutional violations, effective resolution of this matter will require the development of a comprehensive written agreement along with federal judicial oversite. We prefer to resolve this matter without resort to further litigation, although we will not hesitate to file suit, if necessary.
The report notes that Latino drivers in the county are four to nine times more likely to be the targets of traffic stops, that a significant number of those stops were "conducted in violation of the Fourth Amendment's prohibition against unreasonable seizures," and a host of punishments and abusive treatments doled out to Spanish-speaking inmates in the county.
More from CNN:
[Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez] told reporters Thursday that the sheriff's office initially failed to cooperate with investigators, prompting federal authorities to take the "virtually unprecedented step" of filing a lawsuit in 2010. [...]
Perez added that an independent reviewer involved in the probe described it as "the most egregious racial profiling in the United States" he had ever seen.
Not entirely surprising, given recent events, but it again raises the question: What will it take to be rid of Arpaio? Here's hoping it involves jail time, whatever it is.