Nothing says scary authoritarian justice than the following investigation instigated by racial-profiler Arizona Sheriff JoeArpaio. Arpaio went after the judge overseeing a lawsuit against him. Just amazing:
Sheriff Joe Arpaio acknowledged Thursday that his office was behind a secret
investigation into the wife of the judge presiding over a racial-profiling lawsuit against the brash Arizona lawman known for his anti-immigration patrols. Judge Murray Snow began asking him questions, including whether Arpaio was investigating him and his family. "Are you aware that I've been investigated by anyone?" the judge asked.
Arpaio said he believed his former lawyer, Tim Casey, had hired a private investigator to investigate Snow's wife after she purportedly made a comment about the judge not wanting the sheriff to get re-elected in 2012. "We weren't investigating you," Arpaio told the judge. "We were investigating some comments that came to our attention.”
Whew, that’s better? The horror of someones wife talking about her husbands private political point of view. Remember, Republicans think they’re
exempt from all the laws they don’t agree with:
The judge determined in 2013 that Arpaio's office systematically racially profiled Latinos during traffic stops and … (defied) orders to stop carrying out immigration patrols.
It was not immediately clear what consequences Arpaio could face over the private investigator. Federal law prohibits anyone from trying to attempt to intimidate or inappropriately influence a federal judge.
Just as shocking, this wasn't the first case of political
intimidation:
Arpaio's office has a long history of investigating his opponents. Two elected county supervisors and a judge were among those investigated and charged with crimes in the past decade after feuding with the sheriff's office. The targets of the investigations said the allegations against them were trumped up. The failed investigations led to seven-figure settlements paid by the county to some targets of the investigations.
A county official have said sheriff's investigators went to the homes of 70 county and court staffers on nights and weekends in 2009 in an attempt to intimidate them.
And that’s the legal system we’re very likely to see in a Republican one party government. Who can forget Bush’s successful
campaign to politicize federal prosecutors so they could drum up actions against suspected Democratic “voter fraud” cases nationwide. They also fired prosecutors for investigating fellow Republicans. This is a well known pattern many conservative voters don't seem to object to.
Joe Arpaio Loses: New Times Co-Founders Win $3.75 Million Settlement for 2007 False Arrests
ReplyDeleteThe Maricopa County Board of Supervisors this afternoon voted unanimously to approve a $3.75 million settlement for New Times' co-founders, whose false arrests in 2007 were orchestrated by Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
Michael Lacey and Jim Larkin were taken from their homes in the middle of the night and jailed on misdemeanor charges alleging that they violated the secrecy of a grand jury -- which turned out never to have been convened.