Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Shinra]

Haha, so noted.

[Brentai]

I'd actually like to see a discussion of outlaw vigilantism as a power check as long as it's completely obvious that nobody here is interested in actually enacting that sort of thing, but I understand being a little worried about it if you happen to actually BE a peasant from Nottingham.

[Thad]

Works great in fiction; I find nonviolent resistance is a whole lot more effective in real life.

It's taken a long damn time, but ultimately the legal methods of dealing with Arpaio are bearing fruit.  The pen is indeed mightier than the sword, even -- ESPECIALLY -- if the guy with the sword uses it to throw the guys with the pen in jail.

[Bal]

Unfortunately we've endowed the government with both pen and sword.

[Brentai]

So become the government.

[François]

Be careful for now, your government has the biggest swords and is in the process of taking away all the paper.

[Brentai]

Well, that's fine.  Their Swords are mightier than My Pen.

[Thad]

And the hits just keep on coming.

So MCSO spent months stonewalling record requests (related to the Hendershott/Black/Fox scandal -- see earlier in the thread) by the Arizona Republic and Channel 12 News.  To the point that they had to file a lawsuit.

Well, I don't know why this just hit the news, but apparently two weeks ago a judge ruled that MCSO has to pay them $50K in legal fees.

What a week.  Thank you Santa.

(Granted, that's $50K of our tax dollars that Arpaio just blew.  But frankly I'd rather my tax money go toward hurting him than helping him.  Course, like as not now he's just gonna embezzle some from another budget.)



EDIT: In less cheerful but still terrible-for-Arpaio news, one of his inmates had to be hospitalized, allegedly due to a "scuffle" with deputies.  Some scuffle.

Official word is he's in critical condition; Arpaio's opponent in the next election is alleging that the man is braindead but I don't see official confirmation.

Fuckers can't even help themselves when the feds are on their ass and it makes the national fucking news.  Anyone with a brain developed beyond the reptile lobe would probably think of this as the perfect time to lie low.

[Classic]

Or it could be a legitimate scuffle caused by the growing certitude in border crossers that Arpaio's boys are all thugs and would-be-murderers operating under the auspices of legitimate authority. You know, like the stereotype Americans have of various latin american law agencies.

[Bal]

The Federales wish their corruption was this sophisticated.

[Thad]

The victim's brother seems to corroborate the story that he's braindead.  He believes the officers Tasered him until his heart stopped, then threw him into a cell, only later calling an ambulance.

He wants the world to know that his brother was "the most patriotic guy on the planet," a military vet, proud of his country. He also described his brother as having "special needs," and said his brother's medication for his illness was "not balanced" at the time he was arrested.

[Thad]

And back to Andy Thomas's disbarment hearings:

From the closing argument:

    Thomas and Aubuchon became obsessed with pursuing particular individuals involved in these disputes through criminal investigations and then a civil RICO action. Their obsession with Supervisor Donald Stapley, attorney Thomas Irvine and Judge Gary Donahoe caused multiple conflicts of interest, dishonesty in documents they filed in court, and the filing of criminal charges without any evidence that a crime had been committed.

    Thomas and Aubuchon committed multiple serious violations of their obligations as lawyers, and they can no longer be permitted the privilege of practicing law.


    ...(their) actions have brought disrepute to the Bar and especially other prosecutors.

    (Thomas) acted not on evidence, but on vague and unsubstantiated rumors about Stapley.

    One unsubstantiated rumor was that Stapley told Presiding Superior Court Judge Mundell that she would not get the Court Tower if she did not hire attorney Tom Irvine. This rumor marked the beginning of Thomas's obsession with Tom Irvine.

    Thomas and Aubuchon never talked to the source of this rumor, Jack LaSota, and did not perform any investigation of this alleged bribe. Nevertheless, in January 2007, soon after the lawsuit against the Board was settled, Thomas's Special Assistant County Attorney Mark Goldman began to investigate whether there was a connection between Stapley and Irvine.

I think I know what the NEXT piece of bad news for Arpaio is going to be.

...actually, the ruling's not due until spring.  So I'm confident all kinds of other bad news for Arpaio will come out between now and then.

[Thad]

The hits just keep on coming!

Remember this from '09?

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.

Well, funny story: yes, in fact they DID continue shackling pregnant women, including one just three weeks after that post!  (Merry Christmas!)

And now she's suing.

You know, I could set this shit to The Twelve Days of Christmas.

Except that "Four Tasers tazing" would probably be in incredibly poor taste.

[Brentai]

Well, to be fair, it was.

[Thad]

And "five plaintiffs suing" doesn't fit the song either.

...wait, I don't think that's even the same racial profiling suit I just heard about on the radio, because there's no mention of the ACLU.  I am now officially having trouble keeping track of the lawsuits against MCSO.

Oh, and here's a fucking headline for you: Army Vet Tased To Death In Custody.  Merry fucking Christmas, Joe; you've earned it.

Meanwhile, Arpaio's new sidekick, County Attorney Bill Montgomery, lets his pals off the hook in the Fiesta Bowl scandal (tl;dr a bunch of politicians got a bunch of bribes; it's part of what sunk Pearce).


In nonpolitical "WTF, Arizona?" news, ASU students still don't know it's a bad idea to go out on dirt roads in Flagstaff in December.  I'm glad she's going to be all right, and I don't mean to kick her when she's down, but dammit, this is one of those lessons you shouldn't HAVE to learn the hard way, even if you ARE from a place where it never snows.

[Thad]

Video of MCSO deputies Tasing man to death does not show him doing anything that warranted Tasing.

Unsurprised of course.  No snarky comment to add.  They murdered this guy and it's sad and sick and I just want them and their boss to go to prison for the rest of their lives.

[Shinra]

Edit; you know, i guess it is kind of shitty to make snarky comments.

  fuck Joe Arpaio.

[Bal]

Maybe the fact that he was a war vet will finally penetrate the shell of old guard republicans who keep reelecting him because he's "tough on crime". Which I suppose is technically true.

Have you measured the crazy grandma barometer on this one yet, Thad?

[Thad]

he's "tough on crime". Which I suppose is technically true.

Well, as long as the crime isn't rape.  Or embezzlement.  Or false arrest, police brutality, intimidation...

Have you measured the crazy grandma barometer on this one yet, Thad?

I don't think she's ever actually mentioned him.

Grandpa, on the other hand, quite vocally hates him.

I assume these two things are related but I'm not sure whether she doesn't mention Arpaio because she doesn't want to speak ill of a fellow Republican or because she doesn't want to listen to the ranting that will result from her praising him.  I'm inclined to believe the former because I've never known the latter to stop her before.

At a guess she's probably voted for him in the past out of party loyalty more than any particular appreciation for him, but might support a primary challenger -- particularly this guy from the Scottsdale PD.

[Thad]

New Times: Sheriff Arpaio's Office, in Seeming Defiance of Judge, Arrests Five Suspected Illegal Immigrants on Human-Smuggling Charges

There's your answer, DoJ.  Now make with the indictments please.

MEANWHILE, in lighter WTF, Arizona? news, Arizona Legislators Still Want Guns on College Campuses.