Virginia Gun Owners Forum - VGOF

In its further attempts to win more Hispanic voters the Obama administration has made their attacks personal.Being one who is not afraid to do what the cowardly fed won;t he needs all the support he can get to stave off this obvious politically motivated attack on him.

Feds sue Arizona sheriff in civil rights probe
Sep 2 02:59 PM US/Eastern
By JACQUES BILLEAUD
Associated Press Writer

PHOENIX (AP) - The U.S. Justice Department sued Sheriff Joe Arpaio on Thursday, saying the Arizona lawman refused for more than a year to turn over records in an investigation into allegations his department discriminates against Hispanics.
The lawsuit calls Arpaio and his office's defiance "unprecedented," and said the federal government has been trying since March 2009 to get officials to comply with its probe of alleged discrimination, unconstitutional searches and seizures, and jail policies that discriminate against people with limited English skills

Arpaio had been given until Aug. 17 to hand over documents the federal government first asked for 15 months ago.

Arpaio called the Justice Department actions harassment at a news conference Thursday morning in downtown Phoenix. His office has said it won't hand over additional documents because federal authorities haven't said exactly what they were investigating.

"They have hundreds of thousands of reports, hundreds of thousands," Arpaio said. "They're so broad, we're trying to narrow it down. We're trying to work with them."

He said he thinks the lawsuit's a ruse.

"I think they know we have not been racial profiling, so what's the next step—camouflage the situation, go to the courts, and make it look like I'm not cooperating," he said.

Arizona Republican Sen. Russell Pearce called the Justice Department's actions a "witch hunt."

"This is the game that's played," he said. "They couldn't find any violations ... that's why it's broad, that's why they're very vague about what they want. It doesn't take a very high IQ to figure out what's going on with these folks."

The lawsuit is the latest action against Arizona by the federal government, which earlier sued the state to stop its strict new immigration law that requires police officers to question people about their immigration status if there is reason to suspect they are in the country illegally.

"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."

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Phoenix, names Arpaio, the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office and the county. It says the department is investigating police practices and jail policies but did not specify the documents sought in its dozens of requests.

Xochitl Hinojosa, a Justice Department spokeswoman in Washington, said she could not release information on the documents sought. "It is an ongoing investigation," she said.

Arpaio also declined to specify what documents the department is seeking.

Arizona's new law—most of which a federal judge has put on hold—mirrors many of the policies Arpaio has put into place in the greater Phoenix area. Arpaio believes the inquiry is focused on his immigration sweeps, patrols where deputies flood an area of a city—in some cases heavily Latino areas—to seek out traffic violators and arrest other offenders.

Critics say his deputies pull people over for minor traffic infractions because of the color of their skin so they can ask them for their proof of citizenship.

Arpaio denies allegations of racial profiling, saying people are stopped if deputies have probable cause to believe they've committed crimes and that it's only afterward that deputies find many of them are illegal immigrants.

The sheriff's office has said half of the 1,032 people arrested in the sweeps have been illegal immigrants.

Last year, the federal government stripped Arpaio of his special power to enforce federal immigration law. The sheriff continued his sweeps through the enforcement of state immigration laws.

The department's lawsuit said Arpaio's office signed agreements promising to cooperate with civil-rights investigations and other reviews when it accepted federal law enforcement grants.

Last year, the nearly $113 million that the county government received from the federal government accounted for about 5 percent of the county's $2 billion budget. The lawsuit listed $16.5 million of funding provided Arpaio's office through several programs.

In a separate investigation, a federal grand jury in Phoenix is examining allegations that Arpaio has abused his powers with actions such as intimidating county workers by showing up at their homes at nights and on weekends.

A Hispanic activist said a federal judge might have to threaten jail time to get Arpaio to cooperate in the lawsuit filed Thursday.

Hispanics alleging racial profiling by Arpaio's deputies in a lawsuit already pending in federal court have met with resistance in their own document demands, said Lydia Guzman of the Phoenix-based civil rights group Somos America.

"It's going to take the hard hand of the judge to order some sanctions against the sheriff's office," Guzman said.

___

Associated Press Writers Paul Davenport and Amanda Lee Myers contributed to this report.

The Feds are putting together quite a campaign with this, the lawsuit against the State of Arizona and the "Public service ad" explaining that illegals deserve the same pay as a documented worker.

It's unfortunate that we're stuck in this situation until elections can begin to level the playing field and get some people in office who can help stop the selling of our souls.

It really is hard to believe how much this administration has done (and will continue to do) to undermine everything that our country stands for in the name of socialist policies and illegally garnered votes.

Agreed,, it is unfortunate ,but it has opened a lot of peoples eyes to the fact they need to wake up and take part in their governing. The current crew of embarrasments would not have happened had we all been less apathetic.I hope that the voters will not be fooled ever again by a snake oil salesman and his traveling show of liars, apologizers, and socialist miscreants. More and more the anger in the country is steam rolling and will be vented at least partially this November,In a recent poll only 38% felt that Obama should be reelected and that should speak volumes to the rest of us to not get cocky but, to remain ever vigilant in taking back the Republic...........

While ole sheriff Joe is checking citizenship maybe he should grab the DOJ weenies when they come out there and look at their papers...

I think Obama has met his match......http://www.mcso.org/

I concur that,,,The more that comes out, it proves the weak case the DOJ has...No real surprise after their other stupid moves to get the chicanos and libbies all worked up before the election.

No doubt , this is all about stirring up the mindless fools who are the democrat base voters.

GS78 wrote:No doubt , this is all about stirring up the mindless fools who are the democrat base voters.

it's not about that at all. When you start to learn some of the underhanded poop that Joe does to stay in power (bringing child molestation charges against opponents for example) you realize what a sack of poop he is

GS78 wrote:No doubt , this is all about stirring up the mindless fools who are the democrat base voters.

And now you know the rest of the story. It isn't about winning the law suits (even they probably know they will probably lose). The lawsuits are stirring up their base for November...

gunderwood wrote:

GS78 wrote:No doubt , this is all about stirring up the mindless fools who are the democrat base voters.

And now you know the rest of the story. It isn't about winning the law suits (even they probably know they will probably lose). The lawsuits are stirring up their base for November...

facepalm....no

cigarmanva wrote:

GS78 wrote:No doubt , this is all about stirring up the mindless fools who are the democrat base voters.

it's not about that at all. When you start to learn some of the underhanded poop that Joe does to stay in power (bringing child molestation charges against opponents for example) you realize what a sack of poop he is

Reference please.

gunderwood wrote:

cigarmanva wrote:

GS78 wrote:No doubt , this is all about stirring up the mindless fools who are the democrat base voters.

it's not about that at all. When you start to learn some of the underhanded poop that Joe does to stay in power (bringing child molestation charges against opponents for example) you realize what a sack of poop he is

Reference please.

http://www.conservativerefocus.com/blog ... -and-video good enough for you or are you gona complain that cnn is quoted?

Commie News Network...hey I watch them 24/7....except when I'm watching MSNBC...NOT!!!!!!!!

Ah yes, that would be the equally efficient and obnoxious,,,,,,Main Stream News Bereau for Communists

cigarmanva wrote:http://www.conservativerefocus.com/blog5.php/2010/07/09/maricopa-county-sheriff-joe-arpaio-under-investigation-for-alleged-abuse-of-power-story-and-video good enough for you or are you gona complain that cnn is quoted?

No, I don't get into supporting one news organization over another. I think they all twist stories to suit their agenda. I read a wide swath of news and evaluate myself rather that just taking their word for it.

If it is true, then yes, he is a scumbag. However, this just says they are investigating him. I presume from your reference, that he has not been convicted by a jury or even charged with any crime yet (for the alleged abuse of power charges, not these illegal immigration charges)? I've argued previously and extensively that people are innocent until proven guilty.

The status quo seems to spend more time convicting people in the media, before their trial, than actually prosecuting the trial (not literally, I'm being sarcastic).

gunderwood wrote:

cigarmanva wrote:http://www.conservativerefocus.com/blog5.php/2010/07/09/maricopa-county-sheriff-joe-arpaio-under-investigation-for-alleged-abuse-of-power-story-and-video good enough for you or are you gona complain that cnn is quoted?

No, I don't get into supporting one news organization over another. I think they all twist stories to suit their agenda. I read a wide swath of news and evaluate myself rather that just taking their word for it.

If it is true, then yes, he is a scumbag. However, this just says they are investigating him. I presume from your reference, that he has not been convicted by a jury or even charged with any crime yet (for the alleged abuse of power charges, not these illegal immigration charges)? I've argued previously and extensively that people are innocent until proven guilty.

I agree. Serious though these allegations are, we are still innocent until proved guilty. Of course, if he is guilty of these things, he ought to be put in jail with the general prison population, same as you or I would be. And I hope that the allegations are not true.

But that's a red herring to this particular discussion of the Feds suing Arpaio over his enforcement of Federal and Arizona State immigration law. The border is a SOVEREIGN border! Just what part of that do the Feds for the last 30 years not understand?

CowboyT wrote:Of course, if he is guilty of these things, he ought to be put in jail with the general prison population, same as you or I would be. And I hope that the allegations are not true.

But that's a red herring to this particular discussion of the Feds suing Arpaio over his enforcement of Federal and Arizona State immigration law. The border is a SOVEREIGN border! Just what part of that do the Feds for the last 30 years not understand?

I can Sheriff Joe now -- in a pink jump suit..."may I please have mustard on my bologna sandwich..."

Here is another example of where the federal government is violating their own law...the Constitution which clearly states the government shall protect the states from invasion...and when they dont and AZ tries the feds sue them...GMAFB !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

cigarmanva wrote:

GS78 wrote:No doubt , this is all about stirring up the mindless fools who are the democrat base voters.

it's not about that at all. When you start to learn some of the underhanded poop that Joe does to stay in power (bringing child molestation charges against opponents for example) you realize what a sack of poop he is

well maybe there is "something " to those charges, how many consectutive times has he been RE-elected to the job?

I would posit that many (if not all) of those charges are either made up or inflated merely because there are powerful people who do not like his stance on illegals and crime period. Of course, this goes without saying...to throw some figures out and a SWAG I would guess that maybe 70% of accusations by politicians in general against their opponents are made up or inflated.

GS78 wrote:

cigarmanva wrote:

GS78 wrote:No doubt , this is all about stirring up the mindless fools who are the democrat base voters.

it's not about that at all. When you start to learn some of the underhanded poop that Joe does to stay in power (bringing child molestation charges against opponents for example) you realize what a sack of poop he is

well maybe there is "something " to those charges, how many consectutive times has he been RE-elected to the job?

yeah, funny how the charges disappear right after the opponent is too broke to fight anymore...