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[Thad]

Fox gives Arpaio a reality TV show.





(2009 edit: This is an old post split into a new thread.  I have not heard anything new about an Arpaio reality TV show.)

[Brentai]

Never a more appropriate title for this thread.

I can't imagine what'll happen once the rest of the country starts paying attention to him though.

[Thad]

My first thought is on the privacy concerns for people who haven't actually been convicted of anything.  I assume faces will be blurred.

Some years back, Arpaio put live webcam feeds in booking rooms; it got smacked down by the courts.

The way I see it, if I were locked up in Tent City, I'd probably be better off with a webcam on me at all times -- I'd already have no privacy, and honest to God I'd feel safer with a worldwide audience than left to the mercies of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Department.  But if I haven't actually been convicted of anything, fuck you, you don't get to put my face on your website and brand me a criminal.

(Arpaio would, of course, go on to launch a grand jury indictment of the New Times for posting his home address on their website.  Even though it's published on the County website.)

[Royal☭]

Oh that Joe Arpaio, when will you stop being such an obviously corrupt individualsheriff?

[The Artist Formerly Known As Yoji]

Man, why did you have to remind me that Joe "Positional Asphyxia" Arpaio still occupies space on this miserable earth?

[TA]

Because you haven't fixed the problem yet.  Get to it.

[The Artist Formerly Known As Yoji]

Because you haven't fixed the problem yet.  Get to it.

If only the SWAT tank in that botched Ahwatukee raid had rolled over him, we'd be rid of one more putrid caricature of a human being. I guess I'll just have to find some way to make Arizona sink into the sea.

[Mongrel]

Because you haven't fixed the problem yet.  Get to it.

If only the SWAT tank in that botched Ahwatukee raid had rolled over him, we'd be rid of one more putrid caricature of a human being. I guess I'll just have to find some way to make Arizona sink into the sea.

Well, considering California would have to sink first, you've got your work cut out for you.

On the other hand, two birds, one stone...

[The Artist Formerly Known As Yoji]

A friend of mine showed me this one about America's Toughest Sheriff. Apparently, he cited a non-law used by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (a designated hate group) to justify racial profiling, which he denies doing even though he basically does! This just makes me /pffflol

[PhilosopherDirtbike]

I remember driving by Arpaio's little prison camps when I still lived in Arizona. He seemed to always be in the local news and it is wild to see him making headlines outside of Arizona these days. He is definitely one of those guys with a few good ideas but mostly really ass backwards and borderline cruel ideas. The whole making the prisoners dress in pink so they don't steal uniforms, supposidely, was amusing but the hard labor and feeding them almost expired food thing was a little off. He always used to strike me as one of those cops with his hand always on his cudgel just eyeballing and praying that you try to fuck around and give him a reason to go American History X on you.

EDIT: I suppose I should actually adress the article.

A sherrif in a largely Republican state bordered by Mexico who is overly suspicious of illegal aliens? Color me unsurprised.

[Doom]

Pretty sure Arpaio is actually quite a bit darker than even your summary mentions. Isn't he the guy where if you're arrested and handicapped, they might just strap you down and let you choke to death, ignoring your condition entirely?

Like there's just a colossal laundry list of stuff that he should personally stand trial for and is overall a disgusting, inhuman bastard.

[Catloaf]

But he's personifying an important archetype stereotype:  The literally unbelievably cruel jailer.

And he's keeping up the tradition of jailers from ... whenever people decided to start putting people in a small room instead of killing them.

[The Artist Formerly Known As Yoji]

To my knowledge, no less than 11 people have been killed/maimed under his watch since 1993.

Charles Agster, died three days after being forced into a restraint chair in August 2001.

Scott Norberg, died of positional asphyxia according to the Maricopa County medical examiner in 1996.

Brian Crenshaw, died in March of 2003 due to injuries consistent with a beating, though the sheriff's office claimed he fell from his bunk.

Richard Post, a paraplegic rendered partially paralyzed from a neck injury as he was forced into a restraint chair in 1996. Video capturing the event showed the guards involved smiling and laughing during said injury.

Jeremy Flanders, suffered severe brain damage after being beaten by fellow inmates in the Tent City in 1996. The weapons used were pieces of unsecured rebar that had been used in a prior riot, but knowingly left vulnerable by the Sheriff.

Ambria Renee Spencer, arrested for drunk driving while nine months pregnant, complained of severe stomach pains but was denied medical treatment in 2006. Several hours later, she miscarried due to placental abruption, internal bleeding resulting in loss of blood to the baby. This is just one of several other reported miscarriages under the Sheriff's watch.

Jose Rodriguez, died in a pool of his own vomit in 1996. Calls for help from him and fellow inmates went unanswered by guards.

Phillip Wilson, beaten into a coma by members of the Aryan Brotherhood in 2003 and never recovered. He was being jailed for a non-violent offense.

Deborah Braillard, died from diabetic shock from a lack of insulin in 2005.

Clint Yarbrough, suffocated in a restraint chair in 2007.

Thomas Bruce Cooley, one of four inmates of the psyche ward who hung himself. It appears that no action was taken to resolve the issue of overhanging structures to prevent this.

Say what you will about immigration policy, but you know there's something wrong when the guy's gotten the attention of the ACLU, Anti-Defamation League, American Jewish Committee, and Amnesty Freakin' International.

...I was a little unsettled looking up this information. Not just because of the list of human rights violations, but that it had been removed from the Wiki article.

[Mongrel]

And yet, he's still in office.

...

Of the few things on God's green earth I am thankful for, one of those is that we do not elect our Sherrifs or Judges.

_{EDIT: That second line is not really a corollary to the first. They are separate points.}

[Thad]

Don't know how we missed this one, but they apparently won a ruling saying they could legally lie to people all they goddamn want

Didn't miss it; as Transportation notes, it's years-old news.  Story was written in '03; I first heard about it in a documentary called The Corporation around that time.

I saw that last night, and it made my father-in-law laugh out loud.

Barney brings up a good point, asking what planet she's from.

We need more Democrats like him, who just respond to absurd questions and statements by pointing out that they are in fact absurd.

Maybe this just belongs in the religion thread.

Pastor Steven Anderson inciting violence against Obama.

(Death threats up 400%?  Wonder how high they were to begin with.)

Eeeeyeah, he's been local news 'round these parts for awhile now.

I hear there have been some nice peaceful protests around his church recently.

xenophobe at 3:10 touting English-only schools that can't spell "diapers" right

/pffflol

JESUS CHRIST WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE

Oh, yeah, I've been noting my entire life that the people who shout "SPEAK ENGLISH!" the loudest are the ones with the poorest grasp of it.

I will fucking come unglued if you start some kind of false equivalence bullshit in here. leave that to retards like R^2, please.

I see Brent's comment less as "they're exactly the same" than "Let's not get carried away here and act like they're not bad too."

And if you're going to start giving people shit for indulging in hyperbole, well, Jesus Christ.  BTW, fewer posts where you just see how many ad hominems you can fit into a single sentece, please.

I remember driving by Arpaio's little prison camps when I still lived in Arizona. He seemed to always be in the local news and it is wild to see him making headlines outside of Arizona these days. He is definitely one of those guys with a few good ideas but mostly really ass backwards and borderline cruel ideas. The whole making the prisoners dress in pink so they don't steal uniforms, supposidely, was amusing but the hard labor and feeding them almost expired food thing was a little off. He always used to strike me as one of those cops with his hand always on his cudgel just eyeballing and praying that you try to fuck around and give him a reason to go American History X on you.

Tip of the iceberg.  His latest wrist-slap was for putting a woman in solitary, outdoors, in the summer, in Phoenix.  She was not the first prisoner to die in the care of the Sheriff's Department, and she will not be the last.

Pretty sure Arpaio is actually quite a bit darker than even your summary mentions. Isn't he the guy where if you're arrested and handicapped, they might just strap you down and let you choke to death, ignoring your condition entirely?

If you're referring to the incident at the airport a couple years back, that was actually City of Phoenix PD, not Maricopa County Sheriff's Department.  But yeah, same basic idea.

And yet, he's still in office.

...

Of the few things on God's green earth I am thankful for, one of those is that we do not elect our Sherrifs or Judges.

_{EDIT: That second line is not really a corollary to the first. They are separate points.}

Hm?

Arpaio is indeed elected.  The fact that he keeps getting reelected pretty much terrifies me.

...I was a little unsettled looking up this information. Not just because of the list of human rights violations, but that it had been removed from the Wiki article.

You kidding?  He had the publishers of our local independent paper ARRESTED a couple years back.  It's a convoluted story which I've told before, but basically:

They've been on his ass for years.
They posted a story about his shady real estate dealings which included his home address.
There is a law on the books stating you can't post law enforcement officials' addresses online.  (There is no law saying you can't publish them in print.)
They were subjected to a grand jury investigation for publishing his address online, despite the fact that it is on the Maricopa County website.
When they reported on the grand jury investigation, they were arrested, because it's illegal to report on grand jury investigations.  (This is a complete inversion of the protection, of course; the reason it's illegal to report on grand jury investigations is to protect the DEFENDANTS.  Punishing the defendants for reporting on it THEMSELVES is completely contrary to the spirit of the law.)

It was briefly national news; the County backed down, the prosecutor was fired and made an example of, everybody forgot about it and both Sheriff Joe and County Attorney Thomas were reelected in landslides.

Connecticut Republicans violate Twitter TOS, commit fraud, complain about free speech violations when caught.

This logic never ceases to bug me.

Even aside from the libel point, free speech doesn't mean you can say whatever you want WHEREVER you want.  I remember there was some kvetching back during the "nappy-headed ho's" kerfluffle that Imus's free speech was being impeded, but there's no fucking Constitutionally-provided right to have your own fucking radio show, or if there is, I would like mine now, please.

What's funny is I guaran-damn-tee these are people who will argue at length about how the government shouldn't interfere with private business and should let the market regulate itself...up until a private business says "Yeah, hey, no First Amendment here, sorry."

[Büge]

Here's another trend that seems to be on the rise: Shackling incarcerated women during childbirth. (starring Sheriff Joe Arpaio)

[Thad]

Here's another trend that seems to be on the rise: Shackling incarcerated women during childbirth. (starring Sheriff Joe Arpaio)

Waitwaitwait...AGAIN?  I mean, I hope this is the same story I'd heard about before, because if it's not...well, I can't honestly say I'm SURPRISED if the Sheriff's Department let it happen again after it had already been reported on in the past.  Mainly I'd just like to move.

My girlfriend told me that, while I was at work the other day, some MCSD goons hauled an old Latino man out of his car and cuffed him.  Apparently for no reason, as they eventually let him go.  But not before calling in 4 more cars as backup.  And, when my girlfriend and visiting grandparents asked them what was going on, telling them to go back in the house.

She remarked that it was probably a good thing I did not come home for lunch that day, as I would likely not have gone back in my house and then been the next guy on the hood of a police cruiser.

As it was, my grandfather referred to them (presumably out of their earshot) as fascists.  And he's the kind of guy who's usually ready with a gentle rebuke when I use language like that.



EDIT: Started that "WTF, Arizona?" thread people had suggested earlier.  May merge some other stuff in, though it appears we've got plenty to make it into just the Sheriff Joe thread.  Dunno about slicing up any more threads just yet; that post where I reply to six different people feels a little awkward here, but it IS the best summary of the New Times arrests that I've posted on these boards.


Other relevant threads on the "WTF, Arizona?" point: Corruption, which includes a short list of Arizona politicians who have been involved in various scandals, and Media Scapegoating and Censorship, which opens with an Arizona House bill that would have illegalized anything with a tenuous connection to anything.

[The Artist Formerly Known As Yoji]

This warmed my black heart, regardless of which thread is appropriate (Arpaio heckled off stage at university by protesters singing Bohemian Rhapsody)

[Mongrel]

I enjoyed the article comments deriding the loss of Arpaio's free speech.

The other rights that Joe regularly trammels with impunity, well, those just aren't as important.

[The Artist Formerly Known As Yoji]

Huh? I didn't read anything like thaFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF