Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio Refuses To Cooperate With DOJ
Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio Refuses To Cooperate With DOJ
When the Department of Justice (DOJ) began investigating Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) following racial-profiling allegations, Arpaio said “bring it on.” Now, four months later, he has announced that he will no longer cooperate with DOJ officials. Instead, Arpaio, with the help of attorney Robert Driscoll, has filed a tit-for-tat request with the DOJ’s Office of Professional Responsibility to investigate the DOJ’s investigation of him.
Arpaio thinks the DOJ’s actions are politically-motivated and thus refuses to open up his doors so that the DOJ can “come in and find something.” At a press conference hosted yesterday, Arpaio complained that the DOJ is being a bully, saying “Don’t pick on me to show you’re doing something. If you’re going to do it, pick on someone that’s guilty — there’s a big difference here.” Arpaio’s lawyer also put his foot down and said, “there will be no wholesale cooperation until they can articulate what, specifically, he did wrong.” Driscoll explains:
“This case puts the constitutionality of the 287g program squarely into question and is therefore incumbent upon the federal government to defend its own statutes. Instead, the federal government is choosing to go after the Sheriff’s Office and the deputies who enforce their statute to the letter.”
However, the DOJ isn’t “going after” Arpaio for participating in the 287g program which gives local law enforcement officials the power to enforce federal immigration laws. They’re concerned about the way in which his office is implementing it. Sheriff Arpaio has had 2,700 law suits filed against him between 2004 and 2007 — 50 times the number of New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Houston combined. The majority of inmates in his jails are, not surprisingly, Latino males. Also, you’d think being a hot-shot Washington lawyer, Driscoll might realize that the DOJ is in the process of conducting the investigation precisely to find out what, if anything, Arpaio has “done wrong.” Without Arpaio’s cooperation, it’s conveniently unlikely that they’ll come to a conclusion any time soon.
An Arizona local news station also brought Arpaio’s blatant hypocrisy to light. Not only did the Sheriff tell the DOJ, “be my guest” when the investigation began, he also attacked the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors for not cooperating with his own investigation of them. Watch it:
Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox stated that Arpaio’s investigation of her was also politically-motivated, saying he was trying to intimidate her with a “vendetta” over her criticism of the way he enforces immigration.
9 Responses to “Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio Refuses To Cooperate With DOJ”
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What an incoherent argument on the part of Arpaio.
July 10th, 2009 at 10:14 amWell if he didn’t have anything to hide he wouldn’t be soo afraid of the government investigation? Now that the spotlight is on him (and not from his reality tv show cameras) he is shying away…
July 10th, 2009 at 11:47 amHe’s ridiculous. The fact that Latinos are overrepresented in his prisons is reason enough to investigate him for racial profiling.
July 10th, 2009 at 12:07 pmSheriff Arpaio is not above the law and he should be removed from his position. He is violating the civil rights of Latinos and he is a hypocrite.
July 10th, 2009 at 12:10 pmIf Joe Arpaio is so righteous, why doesn’t he let the Department of Justice investigate him? This is just further proof of his abuse of power, nativism, and racism.
July 10th, 2009 at 1:32 pmThis guy is a very poor example of a human being. He has tormented those he detains in his jails. He humiliates them and makes them march through town to be further humiliated by those on the streets. He is a criminally incompetent, hypocritical bully and should be removed from his position. It sounds like he has a lawyer who is every bit as incompetent as the sheriff. How stupid do you have to be to understand that an investigation in required to find if he broke any laws. How is the government supposed to know exactly what he’s done if they don’t investigate? Oh, I guess the DOJ can just lock him up indefinitely on Obama’s say so. That would be how the Bush Administration would handle the situation. No fuss, no muss, just lock em away without lawyers or court date. Automatically guilty on the say so of the DOJ. This guy is a fool. 2700 law suits? Really? Is he saying that all 2700 were just frivolous? Did he think they’d never be noticed? Let me take a wild guess and say that this bozo is a Republican. They seem to always be the most obtuse and always make the most illogical excuses and arguments. And they ALWAYS, ALWAYS are persecuted and victimized by one and all.
July 10th, 2009 at 4:21 pmI live in Florida but am in regular contact with some Maricopa residents. They assure me that Janet Napolitano is the source of his problems. She resented his cooperation with ICE, and his tendency to uphold the federal constitution. I have to think that the prior posts were conveniently scripted by friends of Obama’s Csar. You folks are complete idiots. Guess I’ve discovered what a leftist loon blog smells like.
July 11th, 2009 at 12:38 amIf you do not like the way he enforces the laws, then leave Arizona or do not commit crimes here.
You are in the minority and will not prevail by causing him to resign or be kicked out of office. He will be voted into office again.
He is not doing enough about illegal aliens, but should be out arresting them more often. If you have a problem with the way he is treating illegals, then sneak across into Mexico and see how well you are treated when you are caught working down there. Most real Americans are sick and tired of illegals coming here and demanding a handout. Try doing THAT in Mexico too!
It is always criminals (aka liberals,illegals,etc) that hate Joe Arpaio- thankfully YOU are a minority and we are a majority. He will get another term.
Way to go Joe! Get-R-Done!
July 13th, 2009 at 10:39 pmSign the petition to DHS Secretary Napolitano to kick Arpaio out of the 287g program:
http://www.AmericasVoiceOnline.org/KickArpaioOut
July 16th, 2009 at 4:03 pm