Law is the Law but where are the American Values? Morals? Dignity?.

This is an outrageous action against Hispanic, latinos just for his Irrational and Inmoral values of Joe Arpaio for Political and personal power. That's just Ashamed to see this Happen in America. The land of the BRAVE and the home of the FREE? Takes real courage to leave two innocent, scared, crying children behind while taking away their mother. This is the Change we want for us as Americans? This is the way foreigners want to perceive as Americans? Heartless?, Uncompassionate for others?.

Two young children were separated from their mother, Ciria Lopez, in Maricopa County, Arizona earlier this week when she was arrested for an unpaid traffic ticket. The arrest was the result of an immigrant suppression sweep by Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who gained infamy for reinstating chain gang labor and dressing predominately Latino inmates at his county jail in pink underwear, pink handcuffs, and striped jumpsuits.

Salvador Reza, a local community organizer, captured video of the arrest and the reaction of Mrs. Lopez's frightened children. The video below was featured this morning on The Board, a blog shared by editorial writers at The New York Times. Mrs. Lopez's children are staying with her niece while Mrs. Lopez remains in custody.
Ciria Lopez appeared in court today, facing fines for an unpaid traffic ticket from 2006. Judge James Mapp cleared Mrs. Lopez of all municipal charged after the ticket was paid. Sheriff Arpaio continues to hold Mrs. Lopez under his 287(g) agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Despite criticism from Amnesty International, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Arizona Ecumenical Council, and the Anti-Defamation League, The Fox Reality Channel offered Sheriff Arpaio a reality TV show entitled, "Smile, You're Under Arrest." The show centers around elaborate sting operations run by Sheriff Arpaio to capture people wanted on outstanding warrants.
According to the East Valley Tribune, the focus on immigration enforcement has negatively affected other areas of law enforcement in Maricopa County. Response time to 911 calls has increased, arrest rates have dropped, and overtime costs related to immigration enforcement ran up a $1.3 million deficit over the final three months of 2008.

Freedom of Speech. Constitutional right?

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Made your own judgment and opinion. I did mine. Ashamed to see this happen on the 21st Century. Clearly violation of Constitutional rights in Maricopa County against they own constituents.

Why Joe Arpaio Must go.

The "Sheriff Command Ascociation" gave the GOP $105K to run dishonest and filthy ads against Dan Saban. But who is the SCA? The AZ GOP party found themselves in trouble by taking the money and may have broken 8 seperate laws. Some are felonies.

A top Maricopa County sheriff's deputy is the point man for a mysterious political group that has given $105,000 to the state Republican Party in recent months, money that Democratic leaders say was used to pay for attack ads against Democratic candidates Dan Saban and Tim Nelson.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio has denied any link between his campaign and the attack ad against his opponent, Saban.

The ad was produced by the Republican Party and Arizonans for Public Safety, a group headed by state GOP Chairman Randy Pullen. The two groups also paid for a commercial attacking Nelson, who is running against County Attorney Andrew Thomas.

Donations from a group calling itself the Sheriff's Command Association made to the state Republican Party prompted the Arizona Democratic Party to file campaign finance complaints earlier this week with state and county elections agencies.

On Thursday, Sean McCaffrey, executive director of the Arizona Republican Party, said Capt. Joel Fox, a division commander in the sheriff's office, is the party's contact person for the mysterious association. The GOP's most recent finance report lists the association only by its initials and describes it as an "unincorporated association of individuals."

Fox "is, indeed, the individual with whom chairman Pullen requested the names of SCA's donors when their contributions to the Arizona Republican Party arrived, and we needed to have the information to file more properly," McCaffrey said.

Fox did not immediately respond to calls and e-mails seeking comment Thursday afternoon.

No one from SCA has responded to the party's request for specific information about the donors, McCaffrey said.

"We have since more loudly requested the information, and if that information isn't forthcoming from SCA, then we will act accordingly in a very timely manner," McCaffrey said. He refused to explain what those actions might include.

Pullen did not return calls for comment.

The Democrat's complaint alleges that SCA and the Republican Party have broken state campaign finance laws that regulate how political groups operate. SCA has not registered as a political action committee as required and is trying to hide who the money is coming from, the complaint alleges.

"This deeply underscores the need for a quick and independent investigation," Emily DeRose, spokeswoman for the state Democrats, said of Fox's connection to SCA.

On Thursday, Arpaio reiterated he had nothing to do with the ads. He said Fox's connection to the anonymous donations does not prove otherwise.

"I don't care," Arpaio said. "I have nothing to do with the independent expenditure, period."

Some TV stations refused to run the commercials, and the GOP ultimately pulled the ads.

McCaffrey said he does not know what position Fox holds within SCA or who else is involved.

The Maricopa County Recorder's Office, which runs county elections, has forwarded the complaint to the county attorney's office and to an outside law firm to advise the agency on how to proceed

Joe Arpaio Got to go!!!!!!!!!

Many Republicans In Arizona have important views on Sheriff Joe Arpaio's job performance and policies. Listen to what they say.

Contrary to what you hear coming out of Arpaio's office, there is plenty of evidence that his jails and tactics are not "humane." In fact, the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors have paid for at least seven studies that call into questions not only Arpaio's lack of management and oversight, but also the conditions of the jails and the treatment of detainees. The bottom line is whenever Joe Arapio tells you there is no proof that his jails are inhumane or that his jails have "always passed Constitutional muster," a total of seven independent analyses and three internal documents--one written by Arpaio himself--has found jail conditions to be well below Constitutional muster AND have fallen on the deaf ears of both the MCSO and the Board of Supervisors, who have taken no action to address those concerns.

Why is Wells Fargo Flirting with Anti-Immigrant Extremists? By Eric Ward

Respected business leader Wayne Calloway once remarked that “[n]othing focuses the mind better than the constant sight of a competitor who wants to wipe you off the map”. Over the last several years it appears that Wells Fargo has not only embraced Calloway’s insight but taken it a step further by putting the enemy right inside its very own bedroom.
For several years nativists under the guise of “immigration reform” have waged endless attacks against Wells Fargo, even going so far as to create web pages such as Embargo Wells Fargo. Having declared a racial war against our nation’s immigrant and refugee communities, anti-immigrant organizations and leaders targeted Wells Fargo as part of their growing “war of attrition”. In short, make life a living hell for immigrants and anyone else who defends their inalienable rights to simply be treated like a human being. The anti-immigrant movement is demanding that Wells Fargo choose sides between community and barbarism.
However, Wells Fargo appears to have done the opposite. Rather than taking responsibility as a community leader and drawing a clear moral barrier against hate, Wells Fargo instead chooses to lend its indirect support to the anti-immigrant movement itself. According to the Center for New Community during the 2005-2006 election cycle the Wells Fargo and Company Employee PAC made fifty-eight contributions totaling $108,250 to members of the House Immigration Reform Caucus (HIRC).
Created by the infamous nativist Tom Tancredo who led attacks against Wells Fargo, HIRC represents one of the most entrenched threats to American pluralism today.” Members of HIRC have introduced some of the most punitive legislation proposed during the last two House sessions. The current head of HIRC is Congressman Brian Bilbray of California the former lobbyist of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). FAIR was recently named a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Other groups designated as hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center include the Ku Klux Klan and the American National Socialist Workers Party. Ironically in 2007, Bilbray went on to co-sponsor anti-immigrant legislation that directly targeted the banking industry, including Wells Fargo.
Having been attacked by everyone from Lou Dobbs to Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) President Dan Stein, one would think that Wells Fargo would understand firsthand the impact that the bigotry of the anti-immigrant movement is having on local communities and Wells Fargo customers. In Arizona, anti-immigrant activists have literally destroyed the economy of Arizona in their attempt to divide the state and the families that live there.
Sadly Wells Fargo’s indirect support doesn’t end in the Nation’s beltway but to the streets of Arizona itself. In Arizona far away from the eyes of the nation, xenophobes have waged a relentless war against the immigrant community. Not simply satisfied with the harassment of Latino communities at the hands of armed vigilantes, Maricopa County Sherriff Joe Arpaio joined the fray, terrorizing citizens and non-citizens so much that the U.S. Department of Justice has an open investigation into his activities. Arpaio does this from space leased from Wells Fargo.
On Monday, October 27, 2008, Arizona has called for a national day of action against Wells Fargo. The demand is simple, they are asking that Wells Fargo stop housing and profiting from the Maricopa County Sheriff’s attempt to terrorize the Latino community of Arizona. Whatever your views on immigration policy, it’s hard not to be disturbed by Wells Fargo’s support of groups that seek to slam the door on America’s historic commitment to inclusion and opportunity.
Fortunately for our nation, Americans of all stripes have stood up to defend a historic commitment to unity, hard work, and rights. Organize a lunch time vigil at your local Wells Fargo. Call or email Wells Fargo. Tell Wells Fargo that its voice is necessary to pull the debate on immigration back from the intolerant fringes.
It’s time for Wells Fargo to send Arpaio packing. Click Here:

Joe Arpaio: The toughest Sheriff but affraid to a public debate.

Joe Arpaio running again for the same seat in Maricopa County, Arizona but One of the traditional ways voters use to learn about candidates is the candidate debate. In this election, Joe Arpaio has made it clear that he has no intention of sitting on a public stage with his opponent. Why would Joe Arpaio deny voters this most traditional means of comparing candidates? Why is "America's Toughest Sheriff" afraid to defend his record in a public forum?

Quite simply, he knows that if he were to stand next to a real law enforcement professional he will have to answer tough questions that he doesn't want to answer. He will have to be accountable for abusive policies that simply don't work.

What’s he going to say?

Vote for me: I've been sued over 5,000 times since I took office?

Vote for me: according to the County Risk Assessment office I have over $42M in lawsuit losses with over $100M in pending claims?

Vote for me: my deputies and detention officers are some of the lowest paid in the state?

Vote for me: I'm the only one of the top 20 largest county sheriff’s offices in the United States without a warrants detail?

Vote for me: I tell my employees to do without paper clips and staples and training while I approve senior staff to travel to Honduras on taxpayer money?

Vote for me: except for a Board of Supervisors who continually gives me supplemental budget allocations to cover up my excessive spending, I can’t live within my budget?

Vote for me: I've had 60 people die under my care in the last three years, many of which will only add to taxpayer's lawsuit liabilities?

Vote for me: I'll gladly arrest U.S. citizens and hold them for hours if I think they don't fit a particular racial profile?

Vote for me: despite studies that show my jail policies don't reduce repeat crime and wastes taxpayer dollars, I won't change anything because it gets good press?

We can go on and on. But with a record like that, would you want to debate? He’d lose. He has been invited to debates throughout the county and he’s has cowardly run from them. He doesn’t want voters to see who he really is and examine his real record.

The Mexican Appearance and their Lawful perspective.

For close to 15 years, Phoenix New Times has reported on Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's serious abuse of power. The self-described "Toughest Sheriff in America" was once Arizona's most popular politician. But his popularity is plummeting, as the public finally takes note — after reelecting him three times — of horrendous jail conditions, reckless police operations, racial profiling, clearly violation of Human and Civil Rights against Latinos specially Mexicans and personal vendettas against political rivals.

A believe the addition of the first Latina/o to the Supreme Court could have significant impacts for the greater Latina/o community, as well as to the Court and the nation as a whole. Importantly, a Latina/o would likely bring new and different experiences and perspectives to the Supreme Court and its decision-making process. A review of one decision helps demonstrate this point.

In United States v. Brignoni-Ponce, the Supreme Court stated that Border Patrol officers on roving patrols could consider the race of the occupant of an automobile in making an immigration stop. In the Court's words, "[t]he likelihood that any given person of Mexican ancestry is an alien is high enough to make Mexican appearance a relevant factor" in the decision to stop a vehicle. Through this pronouncement, the Court ruled that what amounted to race profiling in immigration enforcement was constitutional. The Court authorized the Border Patrol to rely on "Mexican appearance" even if no individual, much less one who "appears Mexican," has been specifically identified as having violated the immigration laws. Such reliance is premised on the perceived statistical probability that persons of "Mexican appearance" are undocumented immigrants. Ordinary Fourth Amendment and Equal Protection principles, however, generally prohibit use of race in this way by law enforcement. Rather, the Constitution usually requires individualized suspicion, not raw statistical probabilities, to justify a police stop.

A Latina/o Justice might well approach the reliance on race and physical appearance in immigration stops in a wholly different way than the Supreme Court did in Brignoni-Ponce. Latina/os are likely to appreciate the detrimental consequences of race profiling in immigration enforcement, which subjects innocent persons lawfully in the country to stops and interrogations largely because of their physical appearance. As a direct result of the Supreme Court's endorsement of reliance on "Mexican appearance," immigration enforcement regularly burdens Latina/o citizens and lawful immigrants of many different national origin ancestries. Such indignities seriously undermine the sense of belonging of Latina/os to U.S. society.

Moreover, a Latina/o would more likely understand why "Mexican appearance" is a deeply flawed criterion on which to base an immigration stop. He or she might well ask logical questions about Brignoni-Ponce including but not limited to the following:

What is "Mexican appearance?" Physical appearances among Latina/os run the gamut from light to dark skin, black to blond hair, brown to blue eyes. The Border Patrol, however, apparently relies on stereotypical "Mexican appearance," dark skin, black hair, brown eyes, indigenous features, often with a socioeconomic class overlay, when in fact persons of Mexican ancestry possess many different physical appearances.

Should the Border Patrol be afforded the broad discretion to question one's citizenship governed by "standards" such as "Mexican appearance?" Because "Mexican appearance" is vague and based on gross stereotypes of undocumented immigrants, how could Border Patrol officers, even ones acting in good faith, be expected to objectively apply this "standard?"

Aren't most of the people in the United States with a stereotypical "Mexican" or "Hispanic" appearance lawfully in the country? Although the vast majority (ninety five percent or more) of the Latina/os in the United States are citizens and lawful immigrants, they may be subject to stops, particularly in the border region if not the entire Southwest, because of nothing other than their physical appearance and a Border Patrol officer's hunch that he or she is undocumented.

Doesn't allowing the Border Patrol to consider "Mexican appearance" in making an immigration stop stigmatize citizens and lawful residents of Latina/o descent who fit the stereotype? Doesn't this limit their claim to full membership in the national community?

Because of personal experiences, as well as an appreciation of the diversities of the Latina/o community in the United States, a Latina/o is more likely than an Anglo to be troubled by the reasoning of Brignoni-Ponce.

Moreover, she or he may well have personal experience with race profiling in immigration enforcement.

For example, the Border Patrol on numerous occasions has stopped Federal District Court Judge Filemon Vela, as well as other Latina/o judges in South Texas, for questioning about his immigration status. Border Patrol officers once told Judge Vela that he was stopped because he had too many passengers in his new sports utility vehicle; another time, he was informed that the tinted windows on his automobile--quite common in warm climates--led to the decision to stop him. Similarly, the Border Patrol repeatedly pulled over Eddie Cortez, former mayor of a Los Angeles suburb, well over a hundred miles from the border.

Nor is the assumption that Latina/os are immigrants limited to the Southwest. A U.S. Capitol police officer stopped Luis Gutierrez, a member of the U.S. Congress of Puerto Rican ancestry, on the way to his congressional office and flippantly told Gutierrez that he "'and [his] people should go back to the country [they] came from."' Such experiences, analogous to those of Thurgood Marshall with respect to racial discrimination, almost inevitably would shape one's thinking about immigration enforcement and, more generally, the reliance on alleged group propensities in law enforcement.

Based on personal experience, a Latina/o Justice is likely to understand the fallacy of "Mexican appearance" and appreciate that Latina/os come in all shapes, sizes, and appearances, not just the stereotypical ones. Latina/os also generally know that many non-Latina/o U.S. citizens assume that Latina/os-- native born in this country or not--are "foreigners," and treat them as outsiders to the national community. This assumption, as seen in Brignoni-Ponce, may affect analysis of immigration and immigration enforcement issues deeply impacting Latina/os.

Importantly, a Latina/o on the Supreme Court might well bring a unique perspective to bear on the analysis of substantive bodies of law in which issues of race arise more subtly than in immigration law. Although facially neutral, and therefore presumably lawful, English-only laws can be employed to attack Latina/os or, at a minimum, adversely affect the Latina/o community. For example, in Hernandez v. New York, the Court held that a prosecutor could constitutionally use peremptory challenges to strike Spanish-speaking jurors in a criminal case that required the translation of Spanish into English; with all Spanish-speakers excluded, a Latina/o defendant was denied a jury that included any Latina/os.

A Latina/o also might look differently than others at various civil rights issues, including those implicated by criminal law enforcement. The recent growth of Latina/o civil rights scholarship demonstrates that Latina/os have civil rights concerns different and apart from those of other racial minorities. For this reason, it should not be surprising that the experiences of Latina/os on the state and federal bench arguably have influenced their legal analysis.

In essence, the Supreme Court has lacked a Latina/o voice and perspective. To this point, for example, no Supreme Court Justice has emphasized for Latina/os, as Justice Marshall consistently did for African Americans, the long history of segregation and discrimination against Mexican Americans in the Southwest or the racism directed at Puerto Ricans on and off the island. Such deficiencies are more likely to be remedied by a Latina/o Justice than one of any other background.

Moreover, perhaps most importantly, the appointment of a Latina/o to the Supreme Court would signal a movement toward full membership for Latina/os in American social life, just as Thurgood Marshall's appointment signaled for African Americans. The naming of a Latina/o Justice in and of itself would symbolize the growing inclusion of Latina/os in the respectable mainstream, rather than simply the entertainment industry. Such a development would be particularly important to Mexican Americans and Puerto Ricans, two Latina/o national origin sub-groups that historically have been denied access to the highest echelons of U.S. society.

Unfortunately, messages of Latina/o exclusion in the legal profession run rampant. Few Latina/os can be found on the state and federal bench. Only a handful have served as a law clerk to a Supreme Court Justice, a prestigious credential held by many of the nation's leading attorneys and judges. Severely under-represented in elite corporate law firms, Latina/os comprise only about 140 of all law professors in the United States. The traditional paths to the Court thus have been unavailable to Latina/os. The first Latina/o Justice could not help but to encourage the fuller integration of the legal profession and send a powerful message that Latina/os in fact must be treated as full members of U.S. society.

In this vein, appointment of a Latina/o to the Supreme Court would go far to make "visible" the relatively "invisible" Latina/o community in the United States.
Public attention to the nomination itself would direct attention to the growing Latina/o national presence. The questioning of a Latina/o nominee by Senators in confirmation hearings would likely highlight Latina/o civil rights concerns. Such a high visibility platform might well have a lasting impact on the national consciousness

Was Juan Mendoza Farias beaten to death by Arpaio's Guards?.

deaths — like Juan Mendoza Farias' — are but one indication that there may be a systematic violation of constitutional rights in Arpaio's jails. I believe that Arpaio's jails violate a number of constitutional rights, including the right to medical and mental care; Also the jails are overcrowded and inhumane.

On December 2, 2007, a 40-year-old man named Juan Mendoza Farias was arrested and booked into the Maricopa County Jail. Like a lot of people who come through Sheriff Joe Arpaio's doors, Farias' offense was DUI-related, a probation violation.

Farias wound up with a death sentence.

After three days, he was clearly going through alcohol withdrawal. According to written accounts from detention officers, Farias became hostile and started resisting their orders.

When that happened, officers cuffed Farias and put his legs in shackles and moved him to an isolated "safe" or "soft" cell, designed to prevent him from hurting himself or others. The officers fired six rounds of crowd-control "pepper balls" at Farias and shocked him with at least two Tasers.

Later, jail officials moved Farias into the psychiatric ward, according to the reports they wrote after his death.

Eleven officers teamed up to move Farias. They swarmed him, wrapped a blanket over his head, and strapped a leather restraint, known as a "belly belt," around the blanket to hold it in place.

Then they put him in a wheelchair with restraints.

"Get me out of here. They just kidnapped me. They are trying to shoot me. They just [shot] me on my legs. Somebody is trying to kill me," Farias yelled as the officers surrounded him, according to one sergeant's report.

Another officer wrote that Farias was "talking nonsense."

Maybe not. Photos show that he was, indeed, shot in the legs — by Tasers and pepper balls. And he did stop breathing minutes after shouting that he was being killed.

As officers pulled Farias out of the wheelchair, they wrestled a "spit mask" over his mouth. Spit masks are used to cover an inmate's face below the nose; they're supposed to be used only if an inmate is biting or spitting.

Officers then pushed Farias face down on his stomach — a deadly position that can lead to suffocation if guards push down too hard. It's well known in law enforcement that an inmate on his stomach can easily die from "positional asphyxiation." If the inmate is cuffed behind the back and officers apply too much pressure, the lungs simply can't function. A mask over the mouth — limiting airflow — can exacerbate the situation.

Two officers held Farias' legs and other guards pinned down his arms and back while yet another "held his head down" for nearly 10 minutes, according to the reports.

Farias was fighting for his life. The county medical examiner documented "blunt force injuries" on his face, torso, and limbs. His neck muscles hemorrhaged internally from the strain, and a gash was notched out of his nose — either from being struck or from being pressed into something.

As the guards held him face down, one noticed that Farias was no longer moving or breathing. The guards rolled him over and pulled the spit mask off his mouth. It was filled with blood. So were his nostrils.

The guards attempted CPR, but it didn't work. Farias was transported to St. Joseph's Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Juan Mendoza Farias is not the first inmate to die after a violent exchange with guards in Arpaio's jail. In the past 12 years, at least four other men have died after exchanges with guards. And those are just the ones we know about, the ones whose families sued Arpaio and won hefty payments.

In one case, a jury found officers responsible for killing 33-year old Charles Agster, a mentally retarded man who weighed 125 pounds.
That jury awarded $9 million to Agster's family in 2006. It was one of more than 2,500 inmate lawsuits against Arpaio that have cost the county more than $43 million (see "Inhumanity Has a Price," John Dickerson, December 20, 2007>).

This is the first time you're reading about Farias, even though he died in December. That's because Arpaio isn't open-mouthed when it comes to the deaths of his inmates.

If not for an anonymous tip to New Times, Farias' death would still be secret. Even after New Times requested specific records about Farias' death, the sheriff refused to hand them over, citing an "ongoing investigation."
The Maricopa County medical examiner released the records, in response to a public-records request from New Times.
Otherwise, the details of Farias' death would be unknown to all but his family, anyone with unrestricted access to the sheriff's records, and the medical examiner who inspected his corpse.

The examiner concluded that the manner of Farias' death was undetermined. But she reported "complications of chronic alcoholic withdrawal associated with cardiopulmonary arrest during subdual for combative and violent behavior," adding "hypertrophic and dilated cardiomyopathy with coronary artery disease." The "prone restraint on bed," the spit mask, and the altercation with the guards also contributed to Farias' death, she wrote.
In other words, the excitement required more oxygen in Farias' lungs, but the mask over his mouth and the weight on his back restricted his lungs from functioning. An underlying and non-lethal heart disease meant that Farias' heart couldn't handle the combined weight and lack of oxygen.

New Times asked an out-of-state medical examiner to review Farias' records. He concluded that Farias was beaten and then suffocated

I certainly would list restraint asphyxiation as a component here," said Dr. Dan Spitz, medical examiner for Macomb County, Michigan. "I wouldn't classify this death as anything to do with alcohol withdrawal."

Spitz said it's difficult to know if and how much the guards could be at fault — because medical examiners have to rely on written testimony from those same guards to determine what happened.

In Farias' case, those written testimonies are suspect. Two of the guards' written testimonies are word-for-word identical in places, a red flag in any death investigation. Two additional reports are exact copies of each other, down to the punctuation and capitalization.

That's one reason why jails have surveillance cameras — for accountability. Video footage could show whether Farias actually was aggressive toward officers. It could also show how much force the officers used on an inmate who was already cuffed, shackled, restrained with a leather corrections belt, and suffering from alcohol withdrawal.

On July 25, New Times requested that video and other records related to Farias' death. The MCSO has refused to produce the footage.

Captain Paul Chagolla did not respond specifically to repeated requests for the video and other investigative materials. Lieutenant Dot Culhane, "legal liaison" for MCSO, told New Times the request would not be granted because the material is part of an ongoing investigation, but she did not give a specific reason why releasing the materials would harm the investigation, as required by Arizona public-records law.

Attorneys who regularly request video and other records from the jail say the sheriff stopped producing such videos after two cases in the late '90s, both of which showed guards beating inmates. One of those inmates died, and the other's neck was broken during a separate incident.

Those videos resulted in two lawsuit settlements that totaled more than $9 million. Since then, attorneys say they see video only when a judge orders it. Even then, the videos are usually ruined or rendered useless.

"We had one case where a magnet was put to the video to ruin it," says Joel Robbins, an attorney who represents inmates and their families against Arpaio.

"The cases I have are regularly missing papers, missing documents. When they kill someone, they don't ever seem to have the report done. They'll hide it until you get a judge order to hand it over."

Robbins says any citizen should have the legal right to review jail footage because about 70 percent of inmates are still considered innocent as they await trial, and because public tax dollars fund the jail and its employees.

"We ought to know what our problems are if we pay taxes to a government agency," Robbins says. "The MCSO hides the problems and puts their little press releases out on whatever they want people to focus on. They want you to sit there and just eat up whatever Arpaio has to say about the topic of the day. They don't want you to know what actually goes into the sausage."

Juan Mendoza Farias' story is still untold, to some extent. Other jail deaths have been described in excruciating detail, though, as the result of years in court proceedings. The judgments and settlements in the following four deaths alone total $20.25 million.

Dr. Dan Spitz, the medical examiner in Michigan, says that knowing the truth about an inmate's final moments is crucial in determining the true cause of death. That's why only video footage could show exactly what happened to Farias, he says.

"It's hard to know what to believe. The story [as reported by guards] on these cases is really a big part of the investigation . . . the stories that you get, especially in a jail, where everybody knows each other and everybody gets together to discuss it ahead of time are very suspect," Spitz says.

"It leaves a big hole in what a forensic pathologist needs to be certain to know what's going on."

The Maricopa County medical examiner agrees that it's hard to know just what happened. "The manner of death was found to be undetermined, because the extent that the decedent's interaction with the jail officers contributed (if at all) to his natural process of a metabolic disorder due to chronic alcohol abuse can not be clarified," she wrote.

But Spitz says that even without the video, it's clear that alcohol abuse alone did not kill Farias. "I don't agree with the cause of death as listed," Spitz says of the county examiner's "undetermined" conclusion. "I think there are components that are accurate, but I wouldn't classify this death as anything to do with alcohol withdrawal. He's a chronic alcoholic, but there's no indication that he's undergoing active withdrawal

By John Dickerson At Phoenix New Times.

Joe Arpaio racist and bully's tactics

You can see how Joe Arpaio retaliated to people who are not agree with him.
The Mayor of Guadalupe Rebecca Jimenez expressed her concern of Joe Arpaio tactics and activities seems to be racist, Un-american, and Unconstitutional. They do not want you Back Joe..

And see the results after a weeks of this confrontation with Joe Arpaio and the Mayor of Guadalupe.

>

Arpaio racial profiling continue at higher levels.!!!!!!!!!!!!


Maricopa County Sheriff's deputies targeted non-permitted food vendors selling contaminated products in Maryvale.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio said the goal of Thursday's special enforcement operation was to stop vendors from selling foods not prepared or maintained in compliance with the federal health code, putting consumers at risk of food borne illnesses.

"These non-permitted food vendors are a serious health risk for anyone who buys their food products," said Arpaio. "I said before that I would continue to monitor the issue and I am."

MCSO said the operation comes at the request of the Maricopa County Environmental Services Department. Its field operation employees claim said they've attempted to regulate these vendors, but have been run off by the cart operators.

As of late Thursday night, MCSO reported that at least 12 vendors had been arrested, all of them undocumented immigrants.

During a similar operation in September 2007, deputies discovered that several food cart businesses were being operated by undocumented immigrants connected to drop houses in the west Phoenix area.

During that roundup, 20 people were arrested. Of those, 18 were found to be in the U.S. illegally and 15 of those were non-permitted vendors.

Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas is working with the Sheriff's Office to prosecute those who put the public's health at risk.
I want to clarified that there is no back up or data to confirm how many people were or are sick last or this year at consecuenquences of the food.

It's time for Arpaio to go. Aren't you proud of Arpaio Lou.!!!!


What crime the childrens committed to be terrorized at gun point? That's the Arizona Police Standard.!!!!!!. It's Very disgusting, very depressing and very sad. Joe Arpaio is out of control.

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio wants to know what you think about
his approach to illegal immigration. Well, only if you agree with him.

But we encourage those who disagree with him--or outright

hate what he's doing--to flood a special hotline he's set up for his
supporters and give him a piece of your mind. And don't stop at just
criticizing him over illegal immigration; there are a host of other
problems within his administration that deserve your rapt attention.

Here's Arpaio's number: 602-876-1350.


Arpaio announced his "hotline" last month, after finding out that
Governor Janet Napolitano had taken away more than a million dollars
in state funds from his anti-illegal-immigration program. (Arpaio
admitted he first learned of the governor's action by reading this
blog. You can also read my follow-up article here.).

Joe claims a dedicated phone line is necessary to help people who want
to donate to the Sheriff's Office in the wake of Napolitano's
decision. Arpaio's office put out this press release with the phone
number. But local news publications, perhaps believing Arpaio gets
enough coverage, didn't reprint it.

Arpaio's not embarrassed at all to be asking for your hard-earned
dollars in a time of economic uncertainty. Or after he's wasted
millions upon millions of dollars on lawsuits that wouldn't have been
filed had he been runing a professional jail system. Or after using
public RICO money to finance what amounts to paid vacations for his
deputies (including highly compensated Chief Deputy David Hendershott)
in Honduras--under the lie that he's somehow preventing gang members
from flooding into Maricopa County. From Honduras?!

Oh, your tax dollars are also financing the hotline.

If you want to part with your gasoline money to pay the Sheriff's
Office to round up hard-working mamacitas in minivans with cracked
windshields, that's your business. But the neat part about the hotline
is that anyone can leave a message after hearing a short (and stilted)
speech by Joe.

Now, as we suggested above, don't feel restricted to just commenting
about how the Sheriff's Office treats Mexicans--there are plenty of
other good topics to scream about. Let him know how you feel about:

* Inmates who die or become injured under suspicious circumstances
in county jails.
* Third World jail conditions.
* The $41 million-plus paid by taxpayers for Sheriff's Office
lawsuit judgments and settlements.
* Targeting political enemies with abusive and questionable police
investigations.
* Throwing newspaper owners he doesn't like in jail.
* Withholding public records and trying to intimidate news media
that don't do his bidding.
* Spending hundreds of thousands of dollars working with Honduran
police on a program that has no apparent merit to county taxpayers.

Really, any criticism is fair game--the self-described "toughest
sheriff in America" should be able to take it (though we all know how
sensitive he is; see fourth bullet item).

Now all the hotline needs is a title: We haven't given it much
thought, but "The Great New Times Memorial Sheriff Arpaio Blast Line"
has a ring to it.

Joe Arpaio said it's an Honor to be called K.K.K.


Lou Dobbs and Joe Arpaio agrees that someone called you K.K.K. member is an Honor. Seems to me that their eating from the same enchilada then. Are you reading their lips? I know were they minds are for sure..

If you ask you to choose between a Rapist and an Undocumented Immigrant.






I will choose the Law; The undocumented gardener said Joe Arpaio.


Sheriff Joe blasted at county budget hearing.


A group of labor union members, religious leaders and students took aim at America's self-proclaimed toughest sheriff during Thursday's budget hearing by the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.

Former state lawmaker Alfredo Gutierrez was among hundreds of people who turned out to pressure the supervisors about lawsuits against the sheriff and his use of tax money to carry out crime sweeps that have resulted in dozens of illegal immigrants being arrested.

``Common sense ought to visit his brain periodically," said Gutierrez. ``When you have to choose between (arresting) a rapist and a gardener, I think most people would choose the rapist. Sheriff Joe would not. Most people would choose the murderer, Sheriff Joe has not."

Gutierrez added, ``The issue is that the man's anger, the man's hate has overwhelmed his common sense."

Gutierrez specifically mentioned last week's raid on Splashworld, a water theme park where the sheriff said several illegal immigrants were working.

``There's just a total imbalance in terms of what the priorities are to the sheriff," Gutierrez said.

Arpaio showed up at the hearing and told the supervisors, ``We will enforce the laws regardless of what the law is. If they don't like the law, don't come after the sheriff. Come after the county, get the laws changed."

Among Arpaio's critics was Monica Sandschafer, who said the county is facing its biggest economic crisis ever and the sheriff continues to rack up lawsuits.

She said money is being wasted ``defending Arpaio from lawsuits, a lot of money being spent on public relations." Sandschafer said, ``We think that he needs to respect and protect civil rights, not violate them."

While many county departments are being asked to cut budgets and lay off employees, Sandschafer said the sheriff is spending money on crime sweeps targeting illegal immigrants, and other ``frivilous things" like training sessions in Honduras and big offices.

At one point during the hearing, things got out of control when one of the speakers thought he did not get enough time to speak. After a lot of screaming and yelling, many in the audience got up and walked out.

A group of Arpaio supporters and members of the group trying to recall Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon attended the budget hearing.

Most American jails are poorly-funded and dangerous. The Maguire Correctional Facility in Redwood City, California, is typical of US jails. It's supposed to house no more than 688 inmates; but it houses 978. Some inmates are crammed 15 to a room, with no toilets, windows, or water.

It can be worse. In Maricopa County, Arizona, Sheriff Joe Arpaio brags that he spends more per day to feed his police dogs than he does to feed the 8,000 prisoners under his control.

Arpaio houses 2,000 prisoners in tents in the desert. In the summer, temperatures soar to 120ÞF (49ÞC). Arpaio's jails have been the subject of lawsuits and federal investigations since the early 1990's. His guards have been found guilty of brutality.

He also set up the first all-women's chain gang in history. The female inmates work as county cemetery gravediggers in the desert sun, burying indigents and dead babies.

Arpaio also created an Internet "JailCam" that showed prisoners being strip-searched, shackled in "restraint chairs," and women using the toilet.

In Arpaio's jails, inmates work seven days a week, are fed only twice a day, and have to pay $10 if they need medical care. The sheriff bought a military tank to assist in drug busts – but investigators say gangs and drug dealers pervade his jails.

In 1996, an inmate named Jeremy Flanders was beaten nearly to death by gang members in Arpaio's tent city jail; the Arizona Court of Appeals recently upheld a jury's damage award that gave Flanders $635,000 of taxpayer's money to compensate him for the injuries, which the court found "could have been prevented" if Arpaio had not been "deliberately indifferent" to existence of violent gangs in his jails

Why Joe Arpaio must gotta go!!!!!!!!!! The True about the toughest Sheriff.





In 1996 a young man named Jeremy Flanders was beaten nearly to death by fellow inmates in Tent City. He was put on life support and during that time his head had swollen so badly that it nearly swallowed his ear on one side. Flanders, who was well behaved and a favorite of the guards, sustained permanent brain damage as a result of his injuries.

The weapon used to beat Flanders was a rebar tent stake. These rebar tent stakes which were easily removed from the ground were often used as weapons, a problem easily remedied by cementing the stakes into the ground.

In his stinging 26 page opinion Judge Jefferson L. Lankford stated that “The sheriff and his deputies had actual knowledge that prisoners used rebar tent stakes and tent poles as weapons and did nothing to prevent it.” He went on to say, “The sheriff admitted knowing about, and in fact intentionally designing, some conditions at Tent City that created a substantial risk of inmate violence: i.e., the lack of individual security and inmate control inherent in a tent facility; the small number of guards; a mixed inmate population subject to overcrowding, extreme heat, and lack of amenities. The history of violence, the abundance of weaponry, the lack of supervision, and the absence of necessary security measures supports the jury’s finding of deliberate indifference to inmate safety.”

The appeals court awarded 635,000 dollars to Flanders. Arpaio was held personally liable for thirty-five percent of the judgment.

That same year, Scott Norberg died of positional asphyxia after being beaten and forced into a restraint chair by guards. Norberg was tased more than twenty times although he was fully subdued and posed no threat to the officers. Research by the (ABC) 20/20 investigative staff indicates that the officers involved knowingly ignored signs that they were killing Norberg.

Although many healthy men and women have exited Arpaio’s jails in a gurney, it seems that the infirm and disabled are at particularly high risk in Maricopa County’s gulags. In fact, in some cases, it seems that they are singled out for abuse.

Deborah Braillard was a diabetic inmate who was denied her insulin for over two days. When her constant moaning became too much for her cellmates to bear, the guards moved her to an empty cell where she could writhe in pain alone. She died in the hospital.

Mentally handicapped Charles Agster, who weighed only a hundred and thirty-two pounds, was arrested on loitering charges after refusing to leave a convenience store. He was taken into the prison hogtied and wrenched so tightly into a restraint chair that he died within minutes. Although Arpaio admits no wrongdoing, he refuses to let the family of Charles Agster see the surveillance footage of their son being put into the restraint chair.

Paraplegic, wheelchair-bound Richard Post was arrested for being disruptive in a bar. After some time in a cell he complained to the guards that his catheter was full. He flushed the toilet several times in order to get their attention. Instead of giving him medical care the guards strapped him into the restraint chair so tightly that they broke his neck. He is now a quadriplegic.

A blind inmate, Brian Crenshaw, who refused to show his identification card in a lunch line, was savagely beaten by guards and left in his cell for six days without medical treatment. Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, Arpaio insists Crenshaw suffered ruptured intestines, a broken neck, several broken toes, and extensive internal bleeding from “falling off a bunk” a little over four feet high.

And although the counterproductive barbarism of Arpaio’s reign should be the paramount issue it seems that money is the only thing that will pique the interest of Phoenician reporters. The attitude of our local press is best represented by the closing comment in an Arizona Republic article by Ed Montini -- “The Rising Cost of Indifference in Arpaio’s Jails.” When referring to the county supervisor's apathy to the horror stories leaking from the walls of Arpaio’s prisons and jails he said that their indifference “…would be fine only if all of this wasn't paid for with our money.” But now that the cost of Arpaio’s incompetence is mounting even the Arizona Republic is regularly printing anti-Arpaio articles.

Even though it seems cold to transcribe these tragedies into the language of dollars and cents it is unfortunately necessary to do so because their blood and our money are irreversibly intertwined. When inmates die or suffer permanent injury so needlessly, they or their families seek damages. The lawsuits resulting from the inhumane treatment of prisoners in Arpaio’s dungeons represent the largest portion of the mountainous debt that will be paid in the decades after Arpaio’s irresponsible reign.

The appeals court awarded 635,000 dollars to Flanders, 30% of which Arpaio had to pay personally. The Norberg family received an 8.5 million dollar settlement on their son’s behalf. Michael Manning, the attorney for the Norberg family, is suing on behalf of Braillard’s son and father for 20 million dollars. The family of Charles Agster is seeking 25 million. Maricopa County paid Post 850,000 dollars for his injuries and the Crenshaw family is suing as well.

Pink Underwear, Potato Chips, a Pension and a Penthouse Suite

Between 1995 and 1999 Arpaio’s deputies were reporting that tens of thousands of dollars in cash, raised from the sale of souvenir boxer shorts, were disappearing in the office of Arpaio’s Chief Deputy David Hendershott.

Hendershott, who was solely responsible for the management of this money, is Arpaio’s closest ally and second in command. Arpaio refuses to investigate the allegations.

But the 40,000 dollars in missing underwear money is small potatoes in comparison to the commissary budget. For most prisoners a 2000 calorie a day diet (including ketchup packets) doesn’t hit the spot. As a result Arpaio runs a commissary where inmates can purchase snacks and treats at highly inflated prices. The inmate patronage creates profits in Arpaio’s commissaries to the tune of 6 million dollars a year.

This handsome sum goes entirely unaccounted for because Arpaio refuses to release the public records detailing the use of these profits despite laws requiring him to do so. In September 2004 The Phoenix New Times filed suit against the MCSO. But Arpaio apparently has the support of the local judges because in August 2005 Superior Court Judge Michael D. Jones ruled MCSO officials had not acted in bad faith when they refused to release the records.

Perhaps Arpaio and Henderschott spent all of their commissary and underwear income on real-estate. This however, is impossible to prove, since all of Arpaio and Hendershott’s public real-estate records have also been sealed (with the exception of two properties worth approximately 690,000 which Arpaio purchased with cash).

Arpaio claims he seals his real-estate records because of all the death threats he receives, an unlikely but sufficient excuse.

In 1999, Hendershott was retired and given a 51,000 dollar a year peace-officer pension. Hendershott was then re-hired the same day for the same position, as a civilian, and was allowed to keep his retirement. This impropriety scored Arpaio a scathing front page report in the Arizona Republic but this did nothing to deter him from the obvious act of favoritism.

Add the estimated 80 plus million dollars in civil lawsuits to the 40,000 dollars from the pink underwear sales, the 6 million dollars a year from the commissary budget, the hundreds of thousands of dollars wasted on the purchase/maintenance of toys like a .50 caliber machine gun, an armored personnel carrier, a full sized tank, a 70,000 dollar armored Crown Victoria, and a lavish 800,000 dollar a year penthouse office atop the lofty Wells Fargo building (apparently the view from the county provided office isn’t sufficient) and you have a staggering sum; a sum that cannot be paid by further reducing the inmates’ caloric intake.

Where does exactly the high crime rates of undocumented immigrants numbers come from ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ? ? ? ?



Who should be responsible and accountable for spewed ignorance and bigots numbers?
Why we are not discussing the debate on Immigration with a rational debate with a fair and balanced facts and not bigots, inflated numbers?

In fact even cities, States has been reached the lowest level in crime by years when supposedly the legal and undocumented Immigration increased.

But Hispanics living in Chandler fear Joe Arpaio’s immigration sweeps will be a repeat of the “Chandler Roundup,” the 1997 raid in which local and federal authorities arrested hundreds of people suspected of living in the country Undocumented — including U.S. citizens.

Gascón spoke publicly for the first time Tuesday at a press conference about the possibility of Arpaio’s sweeps moving into Mesa. The police chief said he is worried he may have to pay officers overtime, and is concerned with the possibility of racial profiling and civil disturbances occurring in his jurisdiction.

Gascón cited a “growing concern that people are being stopped because of the way they look,” and said he is fearful that this type of police behavior could continue into the future.

“I’m extremely concerned if we create generations of police officers who don’t understand the 14th Amendment,” Gascón said from a podium inside the police department.

The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution requires, among other things, that states provide everyone with equal protection under the law.

Gascón said he has seen incidents, including one in his city, where people were held for hours because they were believed to be in the country illegally, when in fact, they were not. And the chief said his department has found that illegal immigrants aren’t even the people committing most of the crimes.

A two-year study conducted by Mesa police showed that the ethnic groups who commit crimes in Mesa tend to be proportionate to the number of members of that group who reside in the city. Also, the study found that illegal immigrants are not committing crimes at a disproportionate rate.

In fact, in 2007 crime reached the lowest point the city has seen in ten years, despite the fact that the illegal immigrant population has risen. He called this a “phenomenon” that hasn’t yet been explained, but asked the question that if illegal immigrants are bringing crime into the area, then why has crime not risen?

“There are some academics that would argue that illegal immigrants are less likely to commit crimes,” Gascón said.

He said that in many cases illegal immigrants are fearful they’ll be deported if they break the law and added that even most gangs contain legal residents. “There is so much misinformation out there,” Gascón said. “The gang problem in Arizona is not driven by illegal immigrants...the gang problems in this country are home grown. They are social and economic problems in our inner cities

Joe Arpaio is out of control. We need people like Mr. Arpaio in Iraq !!!!!!!!









To see how unhinged things have become, it pays to zero in on the squalid doings in Maricopa County, Ariz. It is home to Phoenix, the country’s fifth-largest city, and the largest 287(g) program anywhere.

It is run by the county sheriff, Joe Arpaio, who has built a national reputation for toughness through years of cruelty to prison inmates and an insatiable appetite for publicity. Where most departments have only handfuls of officers trained to enforce federal immigration laws, Sheriff Joe, as he is known, has 160. Their efforts are supplemented by what the sheriff says, without apology, is a 3,000-member “posse.”

For months now, Sheriff Joe has been sending squads of officers through Latino neighborhoods, pulling cars over for broken taillights or turn-signal violations, checking drivers’ and passengers’ papers and arresting illegal immigrants by the dozen.

Because he sends out press releases beforehand, the sweeps are accompanied by TV crews and protesters — deport-’em-all hard-liners facing off against immigrant advocates. Being Arizona, many of those shouting and jeering are also packing guns. Sheriff Joe, seemingly addicted to the buzz, has been filmed marching down the street shaking hands with adoring Minutemen.

If this doesn’t look to you like a carefully regulated, federally supervised effort to catch dangerous criminals, that’s because it isn’t. It is a series of stunts focused mostly on day laborers, as Sheriff Joe bulldozes his way toward re-election.

The sheriff says he is keeping the peace, but it seems as if he is doing just the opposite — a useless, reckless churning of fear and unrest. Mayor Phil Gordon of Phoenix has denounced him, saying the raids are interfering with undercover city police officers and federal agents. The mayor of Guadalupe implored him to leave her community alone. State and county officials have pointed out that Sheriff Joe has ignored tens of thousands of outstanding criminal warrants while chasing day laborers and headlines. They say he has grossly violated the terms of his 287(g) agreement — which calls for federal oversight of local police — and have called on Washington to rein him in.

“Do you think I’m going to report to the federal government?” he said. “I don’t report to them. If they don’t like the contract, they can close it up. That’s all.”

“By the way,” he said, “we do have a 3,000-person posse — and about 500 have guns. They have their own airplanes, jeeps, motorcycles, everything. They can only operate under the sheriff. I swear ’em in. I can put up 30 airplanes tomorrow if I wanted.”

The federal government so far seems unconcerned.

“He has stayed within the bounds of the agreement,” Matthew Allen, special agent in charge of immigration and customs enforcement in Arizona, told The Arizona Republic. Jim Pendergraph, an I.C.E. official from Washington, told the paper that after driving to Guadalupe to watch Sheriff Joe in action: “I saw nothing that gave me heartburn.”

It’s past time for Congress to hold hearings on these agreements, starting with a subpoena for Sheriff Joe.

Another War but not in Iraq instead in Arizona between Joe Arpaio and Mayor Phil Gordon.



Days after Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon mocked his immigration raids as "made-for-TV stunts," Sheriff Joe Arpaio complained to Phoenix officials that the mayor's remarks could lead to civil disobedience or worse.

In a letter to Phoenix City Manager Frank Fairbanks, Arpaio called Gordon's Friday speech "inaccurate" and said that the mayor's call for citizens to "make your voice heard" created "a hostile environment" for his deputies at a protest later that day.

The sheriff's response came three days after Gordon accused Arpaio of racial profiling in his crackdowns on illegal immigrants. Last week, the sheriff deployed deputies and his armed volunteer posse near Cave Creek and Bell roads to conduct sweeps.

During two days, 53 people were arrested, 27 of whom were believed to be in the country illegally.

In his letter, Arpaio alleges that Phoenix Police Chief Jack Harris asked federal officials to revoke his immigration-enforcement abilities, as outlined in an agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Harris said Monday that he asked Alonzo Peña, former special agent in charge of ICE in Phoenix, whether Arpaio's operations in Phoenix were "appropriate" in adhering to the county's 287 (g) agreement forged with ICE.

"That was all," Harris said. "He said he was going to look into it."

The 287 (g) agreement allows ICE officials to train local law enforcement to enforce immigration laws. However, Peña since has moved to the agency's Mexico City liaison office and the new special agent in charge starts in June.

Virginia Kice, regional spokeswoman for ICE, would not comment about the Sheriff's Office agreement. She said ICE constantly monitors partnering agencies' activities to make sure the agreements are being properly enforced. Several other Arizona agencies have similar agreements.

Arpaio also disputed Gordon's assertion that the sheriff has not cooperated meaningfully with Phoenix police. The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office informed Phoenix police of its current crackdown days in advance, Arpaio said.

"Gordon's claim that officers were put in danger by my operation is directly contrary to the communique received by my office indicating that Phoenix police had no 'special needs which required being addressed,' " Arpaio said in his letter. "Mayor Gordon's remarks were not only patently false; they instilled fear and acrimony in the community he serves."

Gordon said the sheriff's notices did not give the department adequate time to assess the potential effect on undercover operations police officers have going in the area.

"His cursory e-mails to the Phoenix Police Department are not adequate notification of his intentions - and notification is not cooperation," Gordon said in a statement.

"He purposefully sets the stage for confrontation, and then points at everyone else."

Arpaio's letter seemed certain to prolong a war of words between the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office and City Hall about how much manpower a law-enforcement agency should devote to investigating illegal immigration.

Gordon said he was not surprised by Arpaio's reaction.

"If you criticize the sheriff, you know what's coming next," he said. "The sheriff's sad and predictable response to criticism is always to retaliate. The issue here is public safety and nothing else."

Gordon, who endorsed Arpaio in his last election, decided to criticize his tactics Friday after the sheriff began blasting Phoenix for not doing more to arrest illegal immigrants living in the city.

In his letter, Arpaio says Gordon's remarks threaten future cooperation between the city and the Sheriff's Office.

"Every day, this sheriff's office voluntarily provides many unique services to the Phoenix Police Department," he said. "What we do saves your officers thousands of man hours and allows them to go back onto the streets to fight crime.

"I am very concerned that this negative and misleading rhetoric by Mayor Gordon and other elected officials is seriously deteriorating our excellent and longstanding relationship."

Phoenix police said they were unprepared to respond to the sheriff's remarks late Monday and would respond today.

Employer-sanctions law reeks of bigotry. A Witch-Hunt Mentality. By John Schwimmer

Is it reasonable to ask for a caller's name, etc., when they wish to lodge a complaint with the authorities?Why should a business have to defend itself against complaints from "anonymous" callers? Many, if not most, of these types of complaints are malicious, mean-spirited and put the receiver in an unfair position. An organization can be forced out of business, putting employees and their families in harm's way, over rumor and innuendo?The sanctions law reeks of bigotry, "a witch-hunt mentality," and in the case of Mexican people, has a racial tone. How can so-called educated Americans support this law? It rubs against the very concepts of how our country was formed.This new law should be repealed or monitored very closely for civil-rights violations. We must be particularly vigilant about monitoring the rhetoric and actions of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and County Attorney Andrew Thomas.We live in the U.S.A., not a Third World despot-run dictatorship

This is what Sheriff Joe Arpaio promoting within his jurisdiction over spending taxpayers money. Tough on Immigration with people who's the only crime commited were a do not have a legal document to stay in U.S. but soft on control and enforce the rule of Law with people who's commited a real crime. Who do no wants to be there even Elvis visited once in a while...I am hoping Santa Clausse visited twice a year to Joe Arpaio