Grand Jury Has an Eye on Sheriff Joe Arpaio's Abuses of Power

by Alex DiBranco · 2010-01-10 12:29:00 UTC
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It's about time. Rumors of an investigation of anti-immigrant, hate-filled, authority-abusing, all-around nasty guy Sheriff Joe Arpaio have circulated for months, but now two witness subpoenas confirm that he's finally landed firmly in the hot seat.

The Arizona sheriff was already in trouble for wasting time and money going undocumented immigrant-hunting instead of doing his job. Then, when county officials finally cut off his cash flow, he threw the legal equivalent of a three-year-old's temper tantrum: accusing everyone of conspiracy. (They're all against him!) Because nothing says "I don't waste money" like launching dozens of investigation into county workers for  withholding your allowance.

Paul Charlton -- lawyer to County Supervisor Don Stapley, suspiciously arrested by Arpaio's minions after calling for an audit of the sheriff's office -- compares the infamous Arizonian to "an eastern European dictator who deals with dissent by having outspoken citizens shot, so as to warn others not to speak up."

It would be nice if Arpaio had lost his job back when he launched a forced march of hundreds of immigrant detainees, shackled, to a tent city surrounded by electric fences. But hey, at least someone's finally getting around to checking into his massive (and highly wasteful) abuses of power.

For his hard work, Sheriff Arpaio is the proud winner of TPM's Golden Duke Award for "Outstanding Achievement in Corruption-based Chutzpah." Slate writer and Golden Dukes judge Jack Shafer remarks: "There's a thin line between chutzpah and villainy, and Sheriff Joe Arpaio erases it."

Photo: oswaldo

Alex DiBranco is a Change.org Editor who has worked for the Nation, Political Research Associates, and the Center for American Progress. She is now based in New York City.
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