Sheriff Joe Arpaio In The Dock
IBDeditorails.com
Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Ariz., speaks to the media.
Abuse Of Power: Our misnamed Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against an Arizona sheriff at the top of the administration's enemies list. Prosecute border sheriffs and sue states but protect the Black Panthers? Gotcha.
The Justice Department has filed a lawsuit against the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, the county itself and outspoken Sheriff Joe Arpaio. The suit alleges that the sheriff's office is in violation of civil rights laws by refusing for 17 months to fully cooperate with an investigation into police practices and jail operations.
The federal probe itself deals with alleged discrimination, unconstitutional searches and seizures, and having English-only policies in the jails.
"The actions of the sheriff's office are unprecedented," said Thomas Perez, assistant attorney general for the department's civil rights division. "It is unfortunate that the department was forced to resort to litigation to gain access to public documents and facilities."
What is unprecedented and unfortunate is the administration's war on Arizona for enforcing federal law and protecting its border, our border.
The feds have sued the state over the implementation of SB1070, which mirrors existing federal law, alleging that it's racist even though the law specifically prohibits racial profiling. The administration, in a report to the United Nations, has cited the state as a human rights violator.
Now it's Arpaio's turn. What makes the case interesting, as the Washington Examiner's Byron York reports, is that in September 2008, four months before the Obama administration took over and nine months before the Justice Department first informed Arpaio of its investigation, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducted its own investigation of Arpaio's office and procedures and found nothing inappropriate or illegal.
The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office has 189 officers trained under the federal 287(g) program to enforce federal immigration laws. According to the ICE report, "The OI (Homeland Security's Office of Investigation) and DRO (Detention and Removal Operations office) consider the conduct and performance of the MCSO ... officers to be professional and meeting the standards of the MOA."
The Homeland Security Department has memorandums of agreement (MOAs) with some 70 state and local law enforcement agencies to participate in 287(g) partnerships to enforce federal law.
Arpaio's lawyers have a March 21, 2009, e-mail from an ICE employee to John P. Torres, then the acting assistant ICE secretary, that said, "Did you see this?" — referring to an attached news report of the DOJ investigation. "Yes," Torres responded a few minutes later, "interesting politics at play." Interesting politics indeed, for the charges and the investigation are clearly without merit.
We note with some interest that Perez was the Justice Department point man in explaining to the U.S. Civil Rights Commission why Justice was reluctant — no, refused — to prosecute the New Black Panther Party for its voter intimidation outside a Philadelphia polling place in 2008. Perez testified before the commission in April that "the facts did not constitute a prosecutable violation of the federal criminal civil rights statutes."
But the case against Joe Arpaio is rock solid, right?
While Arpaio is being persecuted, er, prosecuted by the Justice Department, Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu notes that when 3,000 National Guard troops were requested by Arizona law enforcement and both U.S. senators, the Obama administration sent a paltry 30. Incredible.
Meanwhile, the Bureau of Land Management has felt it necessary to place 15 signs along a 60-mile stretch of Interstate 8 that links Phoenix, San Diego and Tucson warning travelers that they "may encounter armed criminals and smuggling vehicles traveling at high speed." The signs are 70 to 80 miles north of the border in what may now be called "occupied Arizona." This is unbelievable.
When the Deepwater Horizon oil-rig crisis hit, the administration's first response was to send a team of Justice Department lawyers and FBI agents to determine whom to prosecute. When Florida's Marco Rubio threatened the Senate bid of the Obama-friendly Charlie Crist, the IRS and the FBI opened investigations into the alleged misuse of Republican Party credit cards. And ObamaCare is riddled with fines and threats of imprisonment if you don't do what the government tells you.
Sheriff Joe Arpaio isn't the administration's only enemy threatened with
government punishment. He's just at the top of the list right now.