Can Sheriff Joe Be Stopped?

by Matt Kelley

Published July 16, 2009 @ 05:46AM PT

There's plenty of news this week about Maricopa County (AZ) Sheriff Joe Arpaio - from an unflinchingly critical New Yorker story to revelations of campaign finance fraud to a new ray of hope that federal authorities might rein in Arpaio's illegal and obscene raids on "suspected" undocumented immigrants.

One gets the feeling that all of this negative press probably infuriates Arpaio to some degree, while on the other hand, he likes that we're talking about him. Good for him. He should enjoy his 15 minutes, because they will eventually end.

The story in this week's New Yorker, by William Finnegan, does what one might expect the magazine would do to Arpaio. It details a laundry list of offenses, from torture and humiliation of prisoners, to cheap political ploys at the expense of human rights, to Arpaio's opportunistic leap onto the anti-immigration bandwagon. Much of it has been covered on this blog before, but the story lays out about as a strong case for Arpaio's removal as we could hope for, and on a national stage. In a few places, Finnegan seems to stoop to condescension, but how can we blame him? The Sheriff truly is in a league of his own.

Finnegan reports on Joe's dangerous midnight immigration raids that catch local police by surprise and turn up one or two poor elderly janitors and a few traffic tickets. He gives us anecdotes that illustrate Arpaio's monsterous vanity and his lack of respect for his fellow humans. Arpaio's not shy, and Finnegan catches him again and again waving around the pink underwear he forces prisoners to wear and admitting that he does what he does to humiliate prisoners and inflict maximum suffering. He doesn't even seem to get the difference between people charged with a crime and those convicted of one.

The story is one-sided, but it's a fun read if you're like me and the name Sheriff Joe alone is enough to make you grit your teeth. Arpaio probably likes the national attention anyway, so it's a win-win.

Meanwhile, there are a couple of other developments this week that might be a little more worrisome to Joe.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced critical changes this week in a federal program that deputizes local law enforcement agencies - like the Maricopa County Sheriff's Department - to assist in the apprehension of undocumented immigrants. Arpaio had interpreted the mandate broadly and used federal funds to arrest anyone and everyone he could - engaging in racial profiling and checking ID all over town. The new federal guidelines will direct local law enforcement to focus on people suspected of major crimes - a welcome and important shift from the Obama administration. Critics of Arpaio - and there are many - worried that this might not be enough to stop him.

Susan Youngblood, an Episcopal deacon with Valley Interfaith Project, said her group supports the arrests of dangerous criminals, but is "concerned that the agreement might still leave an opening for racially-motivated arrests or deportation of individuals picked up for suspicion of minor infractions."

Finnegan reported in the New Yorker on the ties between Napolitano and Arpaio - she missed an opportunity to stop him back when she was the U.S. Attorney for Arizona. She settled a complaint case against him in a performance that Finnegan calls "memorably weak." Maybe she's ready to stand up to Arpaio now that she's in D.C. The Department of Justice is also investigating Arpaio, and Finnegan discusses the investigation in a short interview on the New Yorker website. We can only hope it will lead somewhere.

In other bad news for Joe from Arizona this week, a staffer revealed the names of donors to a political action committee that ran attack ads in the 2008 election against Arpaio's opponent. Some donors worked in the sheriff's office and other major gifts were illegally earmarked for campaigns against an Arpaio opponent. The Republican Party eventually returned the money.

As I wrote here, while Arpaio focuses on chasing down hard-working undocumented immigrants and getting himself elected, his county is unsafe - rife with unsolved crime and unserved warrants. He has been sued more than 2,000 times for violations of prisoners rights and the country has spent millions on settlements. His priorities are out of whack and it's costing the voters in his county an arm and a leg.

The critics and watchdogs are closing in on all sides, but Arpaio has endured plenty of attacks through his career and he seems to revel in the fight. Joe's reign of terror will eventually end, the question is when.