Thread: Arpaio a victim of a witch hunt

Arpaio a victim of a witch hunt
by E. J. Montini - Mar. 13, 2009 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

Every once in a while, the hysterical villagers conducting a witch hunt will come upon a person involved in some actual devilish behavior.

Unfortunately, that doesn't justify roaming the streets with torches and pitchforks. It doesn't excuse the bonfire. It doesn't make what they're doing any less a witch hunt.

All that it does is turn someone like Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio into Joan of Arc.

A martyr.

And worse, a victim.

This week, both the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Congress have announced that they were going to investigate Arpaio's office for civil-rights violations allegedly connected to his enforcement of immigration laws.

Chairman John Conyers of the House Judiciary Committee said that he will hold a hearing in late April, adding, "We're not trying to persecute or take advantage of anybody. Law-enforcement officers have a very important and valuable function. The problem is they can't interpret the law their own way to harass or use racial strategies to determine who they arrest."

Likewise, the acting assistant attorney general who notified Arpaio's office of the Justice Department's investigation said, "We have not reached any conclusions about the subject matter of the investigation. . . . We also will offer to provide recommendations on ways to improve practices and procedures, as appropriate."

Those who oppose Arpaio's "crime saturation" patrols, in which most of the immigration arrests have been made, reacted joyously.

Clarissa Martinez de Castro of the National Council of La Raza said that "Arpaio has made it clear that he and his deputies have little regard for due process, civil liberties and their obligation to protect all residents of Maricopa County. We look with hope to the Civil Rights Division investigation. We hope that the Department of Justice will send a signal to local law-enforcement agencies throughout America and restore the rule of law to Maricopa County."

Ali Noorani, executive director of the National Immigration Forum, added, "We welcome the Department of Justice's investigation because when a local elected official takes the law into his own hands, the role of the federal government is to protect the people from abuse."

I understand where they are coming from.

They philosophically disagree with Arpaio's use of deputies to enforce immigration law aggressively. A lot of folks do.

But to suggest that he has acted with blatant disregard for people's civil rights or worse?

That's a stretch.

Before Arpaio's office began its "crime saturation" patrols, it received guidelines from the Maricopa County Attorney's Office that were meant to ensure that deputies did not violate the civil rights of any potentially illegal immigrants caught in the sweeps.

When referring to officers trained under a federal program that allows local officers to enforce federal immigration law (known as "287g"), the guidelines were straightforward and strict.

Opponents don't like sheriff's deputies using traffic violations as probable cause to stop a vehicle and then questioning those inside about immigration.

Still, not liking such a practice and suggesting that it's illegal are two widely different things. Cops use traffic violations to nab all types of bad guys. (Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh was captured after being stopped for not having a license plate on his getaway car.)

If Arpaio's policy is to be changed, it should be through an election, not with a politically motivated mob. You can't catch a witch by making a pact with the devil.

www.azcentral.com

Arpaio Investigation Raises Charges of Witch Hunt

Monday, March 16, 2009 2:21 PM
By: Dave Eberhart

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his hard-charging office, famous for aggressive anti-illegal immigration enforcement in Arizona, is now being investigated by the FBI for alleged civil rights violations, according to a report in the East Valley Tribune.

“It changes the tenor and content of the investigation,â€

you have got to see this letter

http://judiciary.house.gov/news/pdfs/Co ... 090212.pdf


one of the lines actually says:
"Reports from the affected communities indicate that accepted notions of probably cause have been replaced by an analysis solely on (in the words of columnist Ruben Navarette" their "brown skin and spanish accents." "



soooooooooooooooo Conyers and the other three are taking the word of an editorial writer, an open borders loon

Originally Posted by jamesw62

you have got to see this letter

http://judiciary.house.gov/news/pdfs/Co ... 090212.pdf


one of the lines actually says:
"Reports from the affected communities indicate that accepted notions of probably cause have been replaced by an analysis solely on (in the words of columnist Ruben Navarette" their "brown skin and spanish accents." "

What is "probably cause"? Do they mean probable cause? Sounds like these witch hunters are very incompetent, it seems they are going after Sheriff Joe because he is white! Bunch of angry racists.

[quote]U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder told Congress during his confirmation hearing that “safeguarding our precious civil rightsâ€

I hope they try to remove Arpaio from office. This would ignite the biggest sh#! storm than they could ever imagine and I would personally be right in the middle of it!! Bring it on!

Justice inquiry of Arpaio will fail
Mar. 21, 2009 12:00 AM

There it was on Friday the 13th, E.J. Montini's column, "Arpaio a victim of a witch hunt." This unlucky day will be remembered by our pro-illegal-immigration Washington lobbyists, Mayor Phil Gordon and county Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox as the day they pushed all their chips into the pot with the losing hand.

As I am sure Montini realizes, when Sheriff Joe Arpaio is exonerated by the U.S. Justice Department, the pro-illegal-immigrant lobby in Arizona will die.

Unfortunately for Arizona, Gordon and Wilcox's successful lobbying efforts to get John Conyers, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, to hold a hearing in late April will result in publicizing the fact that Phoenix ranks No. 1 in kidnappings in the United States. This national exposure will succeed in eliminating the rest of the tourism and convention business Gordon and Wilcox already have destroyed with their politically motivated rants.

- Dale Benson, Phoenix

www.azcentral.com