Renzo wrote:
macattaq wrote:
The issue with Arpaio and the Maricopa County Sheriff's Department is interesting. Even though Arpaio is clearly violating citizen's rights, he keeps getting re-elected. I think this happens because he plays with the fears of the stereotypical, conservative whites who live in Maricopa county. Think of the people who attend Sarah Palin rallies. In Arizona, there are ALOT of these types, and many of them reside in Maricopa county, probably due to the fact that Maricopa county is far more conservative than most of the rest of the state. Its an interesting situation, because his tactics would have gotten him recalled in Pima county..
I realize that his constituents probably really like the idea on driving while Mexican being a crime, and may have no problem with violating a defendant's right to representation. But that's why we have federal civil rights laws, to keep local officials from doing dumb s#*t, even if the local community supports it. If I were the ACLU I'd send an army of killer robots after him.
It reminds me of back in my youth when I did a lot of rock climbing in UT. If you got pulled over in some rural parts of the state you'd better pray that it was by the state patrol, because many of the local county sheriff's made no secret that they didn't want outsiders there (this was back before Jeffs was arrested, I think the state gov't cleaned things up a bit since then).
Yes, I see your point. But, the federal government also gave Arpaio certain powers which enabled him to do some of the very things he does. This was through the Department of Homeland Security's ICE program, if I recall correctly. So if the federal government comes down on Arpaio, I imagine it could be rather embarrassing. That is to say, the federal government would end p up calling extra attention to the fact that it gave Arpaio the power to infringe civil liberties. I don't think the government is too willing to investigate this, but I imagine that if there was enough information compiled, DoJ would have no choice but to investigate. Also, it does require the actual filing of a complaint in order for the government to involve itself, I believe. If this is so, many of the people who are being affected probably do not believe that they have any rights and so do not file. It is a crappy situation all around, and to be honest, it angers me enough to make me want to go back home and "do something about it."
On the upside, I do believe DoHS did remove or suspend Arpaio's powers under the ICE program, but he is still acting as though he has them. Coincidentally, those powers would have been removed by the former AZ governor turned Head of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano.
Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2009 2:57 pm 
