I'm betting that given the track record for the feds successfully going to court, where they win more than 90% of their cases, because they don't take cases they don't have a really, really good chance of winning, that they probably have the bad sheriff dead to rights, along with some of his staff.
Arpaio appeals to the Right Wing Authoritarians, the type who enjoy being abusive and humiliating those over whom they can gain control, the kind of individual who is abusive and brutish with power and authority. In other words, Arpaio appealed to the right wingers, courted them, was a hero of sorts to them.
In reality he was no hero at all; he was an incompetent, and apparently not very law abiding sheriff, the kind who eventually ALWAYS becomes a disgrace, and who more often than not runs afoul of the law as it is properly enforced. Sheriff Joe, you've had this coming to you for a long, long time.
Anyone want to start a betting pool on the side that Arpaio is going to try to distract and defect blame for his actions, instead of owning them, by blaming this on his birther silliness? It would be classic right-wingery to play the victim card, and the conspiracy cards next, in a last-ditch appeal to his supporting fellow authoritarians. I wouldn't be particularly surprised if it turns out that there is some corruption rot in the woodwork, that will be unearthed by the grand jury, given the recent convictions of some of Apraio's close buddies, like convicted prosecutor Andrew Thomas. Arpaio doesn't appear to be squeaky clean, by any stretch of the imagination. Arizona appears to be a far too prone to right wing corruption and abuse.
From Politico.com :
Joe Arpaio to face lawsuit over alleged civil rights violations
PHOENIX (AP) — Federal authorities have said they plan to sue Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio and his office over allegations of civil rights violations, including the racial profiling of Latinos.
The U.S. Justice Department has been seeking an agreement requiring Arpaio's office to train officers in how to make constitutional traffic stops, collect data on people arrested in traffic stops and reach out to Latinos to assure them that the department is there to also protect them.
The U.S. Justice Department has been seeking an agreement requiring Arpaio's office to train officers in how to make constitutional traffic stops, collect data on people arrested in traffic stops and reach out to Latinos to assure them that the department is there to also protect them.
Arpaio has denied the racial profiling allegations and has claimed that allowing a court monitor would mean that every policy decision would have to be cleared through an observer and would nullify his authority.
The self-proclaimed toughest sheriff in America has been a national political fixture who has built his reputation on jailing inmates in tents and dressing them in pink underwear, selling himself to voters as unceasingly tough on crime and pushing the bounds of how far local police can go to confront illegal immigration.DOJ officials told a lawyer for Arpaio on April 3 that the lawman's refusal of a court-appointed monitor was a deal-breaker that would end settlement negotiations and result in a federal lawsuit.
The "notice of intent to file civil action" came Wednesday from Assistant U.S. Attorney General Thomas Perez in a letter to an Arpaio lawyer.
Perez, who heads the DOJ's civil rights division, noted that it's been more than 100 days since the sheriff's office received the DOJ's findings report and federal authorities haven't met with the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office counsel since Feb. 6 to discuss the terms of a consent agreement. Federal authorities plan to hold a 10 a.m. MST news conference to discuss the allegations against Arpaio's office.
At a news conference Wednesday afternoon, Arpaio defended himself in the face of the pending lawsuit.
"If they sue, we'll go to court. And then we'll find out the real story," he said. "There's lots of miscommunication emanating from Washington. They broke off communications.
"They're telling me how to run my organization. I'd like to get this resolved, but I'm not going to give up my authority to the federal government. It's as simple as that," Arpaio added.
Last December, the DOJ released a scathing report accusing Arpaio's office of racially profiling Latinos, basing immigration enforcement on racially charged citizen complaints and punishing Hispanic jail inmates for speaking Spanish in Arizona's most populous county. Maricopa County includes Phoenix and its surroundings.
The DOJ also accused Arpaio of having a culture of disregard for basic constitutional rights.
The civil rights allegations have led some Arpaio critics to call for his resignation, including the National Council of La Raza, a prominent advocacy group for Latinos.
The sheriff's office also is facing criticism over more than 400 sex-crimes investigations — including dozens of alleged child molestations — that hadn't been investigated adequately or weren't examined at all over a three-year period ending in 2007.
Arpaio has apologized for the botched cases, reopened 432 sex-crimes investigations and made 19 arrests.
Separate from the civil rights probe, a federal grand jury has been investigating Arpaio's office on criminal abuse-of-power allegations since at least December 2009. That grand jury is examining the investigative work of the sheriff's anti-public corruption squad.
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