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House Judiciary Committee Presses
Eric Holder to Investigate Sheriff
Joe Arpaio
PHOENIX ( By
Stephen Lemons, New Times) February
14, 2009
— In what may be a watershed moment
in the battle to end Sheriff Joe
Arpaio's anti-Hispanic pogroms and
his abuse of his federal 287(g)
authority, the leadership of the
House Judiciary Committee is
pressing U.S. Attorney General Eric
Holder to investigate Sheriff Joe
and to make sure his use of his
287(g) power to enforce immigration
law, "is not used to justify the
racial profiling of any resident of
Arizona."
Chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.),
along with other members of the
House committee that has
jurisdiction over Holder's
departments, made the request in a
strongly worded letter dated
February 12. The letter is highly
critical of Arpaio's media stunts,
such as the "200 Mexican March,"
which took place last week, wherein
Arpaio brought back the bugbear of
racial and ethnic segregation after
several decades of it being declared
unconstitutional.
The letter also cites Arpaio's
sweeps of Latino communities, as
well as the recent MALDEF/ACLU
lawsuit brought against the MCSO for
racial profiling, and notes
"Arpaio's actions have triggered
numerous civil rights lawsuits."
Yet, the committee states that our
corrupt top cop's "repeated course
of conduct, which values publicity
opportunities over the civil rights
of the residents of Arizona, is too
disturbing to leave enforcement of
the civil rights laws to private
litigants."
The correspondence references
several federal laws that may have
run afoul of, such as Section 242 of
Title 18 of the U.S. Code, which
"prohibits anyone from acting under
the color of law to willfully
deprive a person of a right or
privilege protected by the
Constitution or laws of the United
States."
The press release issued today
announcing the letter is even more
forceful in its condemnation of
Arpaio's actions.
"Racial profiling and segregation
are simply not acceptable." Chairman
Conyers is quoted as stating
concerning Joe Arpaio. "Media stunts
and braggadocio are no substitute
for fair and effective law
enforcement."
Immigration Subcommittee Chairwoman
Zoe Lofgren (D-California) declared,
"The basic premise of our justice
system is people are innocent until
proven otherwise...I'm concerned in
Maricopa County that basic premise
appears to have been turned upside
down and Latino members of community
are considered `undocumented' until
proven otherwise. That's not how our
Constitution works and it's time for
the Department of Justice to take a
closer look."
Constitution Subcommittee Chairman
Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) didn't hold
back either: "We cannot tolerate
vigilantes using the police power to
violate the fundamental rights of
anyone they can get their hands on.
Sheriff Arpaio has consistently
abused his office in violation of
federal law. It is time for the
federal government to step in and
uphold the rule of law in this
country, even in Maricopa County."
Finally, those in Congress with
oversight over DOJ have heard the
cries of the oppressed in Joe
Arpaio's Maricopa County. Now is the
time to keep the pressure on to
ensure that swift action follows. If
Holder does respond with the
appropriate speed and force, then
Congress should hold hearings and
subpoena Arpaio to testify. It's
long since past time for him to be
held accountable for his reign of
terror and error. There's no elected
official in this state to challenge
Arpaio. So only the federal
government can finally make him
comply with the law or face the
consequences.
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