Well, well, well. Remember Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Arizona? He's one of the last nutjobs in American who can't let go of that birther baloney. And then there was his mugshot humiliation game. And his fondness for female chain gangs. And best of all (because there is such a heaping, stinking, steaming pile of awesome coming out of this here man) there was his immigration bill -- or as the civilized world likes to call it, legalized racial profiling.
Oh it's not just me. The Justice Department is suing Sheriff Joe Arpaio and the Maricopa Sheriff's Office in a civil rights case. The case alleges that the Maricopa police force "discriminates against Latinos, uses excessive force, runs its jail unconstitutionally and has taken illegal action to silence critics." Hallelujah. Of course, the "Toughest Sheriff in Arizona" could have avoided this lawsuit.
The Justice Department was trying to work with the Maricopa office to bring in some reforms. I'm not surprised that Arpaio rejected that idea. I can't imagine that a man ornery enough to do what he does would welcome an outsider telling him how to run his police force. But he had his chance to play fair.
The DOJ alleges that the sheriff's office has violated the first, fourth, and fourteenth amendments, and that they used racial slurs and showed an anti-Latino bias in emails. And as if that's not bad enough, they DOJ says Sheriff Arpaio and his employees have tried to silence critics who dared to speak out against them.
It's that last allegation that really hints at level of corruption at the Sheriff's office.
As for Sheriff Arpaio, he thinks this is just a biased attack from the Obama administration. He says all incidents cited in the case are just isolated cases that have been taken care of. Right -- like a whole series of similar cases don't all add up to a systemic problem? But if Arpaio truly believes he has the truth on his side he should welcome the lawsuit as an opportunity to clear his name. I think what's really going is that Arpaio has a lot to hide. Well the truth will come out soon enough.
See this video on The Stir by CafeMom.
Do you think the Justice Department should sue Sheriff Arpaio and his office?
Image via roberthuffstutter/Flickr