Sheriff Joe Arpaio sued by U.S. Justice Department
Sheriff Joe Arpaio sued by Justice Department in civil-rights probe
by Yvonne Wingett - Sept. 2, 2010 09:15 AM
The Arizona Republic
Sheriff Joe Arpaio has been sued by the U.S. Justice Department in civil-rights probe for refusing to cooperate with a civil-rights probe into police practices and jail operations.
The federal lawsuit
Arpaio said the lawsuit is disappointing given that he and his office were cooperating on the federal probe. "I thought we were really close to getting this resolved," the sheriff said.
Arpaio also said he believes that the Justice Department knows full well his agency does not racially profile, and that's the reason the federal agency is taking him to court over records access -- rather than forcing the Sheriff's Office to change its practices through a consent decree. "I think this is just a ruse," he said of the lawsuit.
Last week, an attorney for the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office said he wanted to cooperate with federal investigators, but would not automatically grant access to materials it considers beyond the scope of civil-rights laws.
Justice officials decided to sue instead of waiting for Arpaio to cooperate. The suit, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Phoenix, also names the Sheriff's Office and Maricopa County.
The lawsuit comes after weeks of back-and-forth letters between the agencies, threats to strip the county of federal funding, and a meeting in Washington last week among attorneys to discuss the investigation.
A spokeswoman for the Justice Department has said it is unprecedented for an agency to refuse to cooperate with a Title VI investigation. This is the first time the agency is suing to compel access to documents and facilities.
Since March 2009, the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division has been investigating Arpaio's operation amid accusations of discrimination and unconstitutional searches and seizures related to the sheriff's immigration-enforcement efforts.
The investigation is being conducted under the authority of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which forbids discrimination related to programs that receive federal funds.
The sheriff's failure to cooperate could cost the county millions of dollars of federal funding. Last year, the county received $113 million in federal funds, according to county records; of that, the Sheriff's Office received $3.8 million. County officials must agree that they will not discriminate in order to receive those funds.
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.
Last year, the nearly $113 million that the county received from the federal government accounted for about 5 percent of the county's $2 billion budget. Arpaio's office said it receives $3 million to $4 million each year in federal funds.
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.
Includes information from The Associated Press
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