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Joe Arpaio

Feds accuse Arizona sheriff of pattern of racism, abuse

Last updated Thursday, May 10, 2012 - 1:05pm

WASHINGTON -- The Department of Justice sued Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his Phoenix law enforcement department Thursday, alleging a pattern of abuse and racism against Latinos, especially immigrants, and asking a federal judge to force the 20-year, often outspoken and brazen sheriff to stop racially profiling Latinos and abusing them in his jails.

Crime, Federal Government, Joe Arpaio, National Read more Comments

Inmates wearing pink underwear. AP/Matt York

New trial ordered in death of inmate forced to wear pink underwear

Carol J. Williams Los Angeles Times

Last updated Thursday, March 8, 2012 - 10:45am

"America's toughest sheriff" is facing a new threat of punishment in the death of a mentally ill jail inmate forced to don pink underwear.

Courts, Inmate death, Jail, Joe Arpaio, Lawsuit, Wrongful death, National Read more Comments

Profiling lawsuit adds to Ariz. sheriff's troubles

Jacques Billeaud The Associated Press

Last updated Thursday, December 22, 2011 - 3:55pm

PHOENIX -- A judge heard arguments Thursday in a lawsuit that alleges racial profiling in Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's immigration patrols, a week after federal authorities accused the sheriff's office of a wide range of civil rights violations.

The lawsuit was filed by a handful of Latinos who claim officers based some traffic stops on the race of Hispanics in vehicles, pulling them over without probable cause to inquire about their immigration status.

Illegal aliens, Joe Arpaio, Latinos, National Read more Comments

FILE - In a Monday, Dec. 5, 2011 file photo, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio discusses the latest in the document release on his office's handling of many sexual assault cases over the years in El Mirage, Ariz., during a news conference, in Phoenix. Federal authorities plan to announce their findings Thursday, Dec. 15, 2011 in a civil rights investigation of Arpaio, who has been accused of using discriminatory tactics in its signature immigration patrols. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)

Feds issue scathing report against AZ sheriff

Jacques Billeaud The Associated Press

Last updated Friday, December 16, 2011 - 6:24pm

PHOENIX -- Sheriff Joe Arpaio says a scathing U.S. Justice Department report about his office's law enforcement tactics marks what he calls "a sad day for America as a whole."

Arizona, Civil Rights, Illegal aliens, Immigration law, Joe Arpaio, Justice Department, Latinos, Immigration, National Read more Comments

'America's toughest sheriff' shrugs off a rough month

Los Angeles Times, Nicholas Riccardi

Last updated Tuesday, May 3, 2011 - 10:10am

PHOENIX -- April was a tough month for the man who likes to call himself America's toughest sheriff.

First, auditors found that Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's office took $99 million in tax money that was supposed to fund jails and improperly spent it on roundups of suspected illegal immigrants and investigations into the sheriff's political foes.

Then a federal judge ruled that Arpaio's deputies violated the constitutional rights of a legal immigrant and his U.S. citizen son by detaining them for several hours during one of the sheriff's controversial immigration raids.

Most significantly, Arpaio's longtime second-in-command, Chief Deputy David Hendershott, resigned after an internal corruption probe found he violated department policies in supervising investigations into Arpaio's critics. Federal prosecutors are also investigating the allegations and whether the sheriff has abused his power.

Arpaio, as he normally does, shrugs it all off.

Features, Illegal aliens, Immigration law, Joe Arpaio Read more Comments