Post date: May 10, 2012 11:46:47 PM
PHOENIX, ARIZONA, UNITED STATES (MAY 10, 2012) (NBC) - The U.S. Justice Department sued an Arizona sheriff on Thursday (May 10) for civil rights violations, alleging he and his office intentionally engaged in racial profiling and unlawful arrests of Latinos in violation of their constitutional rights.
The U.S. Justice Department sues Arizona sheriff, Joe Arpaio, for civil rights violations. He denies the accusations and says he "won't surrender"
The lawsuit cited systemic profiling, sloppy and indifferent police work and a disregard for minority rights by Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, a conservative Republican who styles himself as "America's toughest sheriff," and county officials.
"Leadership starts at the top and all of the alleged violations that are outlined in the complaint are the product of a culture of disregard for basic rights... that starts at the top and pervades the organization," Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Thomas Perez told reporters.
Perez said the Justice Department sued Maricopa County, the sheriff's office and Arpaio in U.S. District Court in Arizona after trying unsuccessfully for three and a half months to get Arpaio to comply with federal civil rights law.
Arpaio faces re-election in November in the county that includes the Phoenix metropolitan area. He has become the face of hardline local efforts to crack down on illegal immigration, placing him on a collision course with the federal government.
Maricopa County has created inadequately trained special units that are used to target Latinos for unlawful and unjustified arrests; has willfully denied Latino prisoners their civil rights in jail; and under Arpaio's direction has arrested political opponents for no valid reason, the DOJ suit contends.
"At its core, this is an abuse of power case involving Sheriff Arpaio and a sheriff's office that disregarded the Constitution, ignored sound police practices and did not hesitate to retaliate against perceived critics in a variety of unlawful ways," said Perez.
"Constitutional policing and effective policing go hand in hand. The complaint outlines how Sheriff Arpaio's actions were neither constitutional nor effective," he said.
The lawsuit cited the use of a "volunteer posse" or group of untrained civilians that carry out Arpaio's anti-Latino policies in a county of 4 million people that is 30 percent Latino.
Latino drivers in one part of the county are nine times more likely to be stopped than non-Latino drivers engaged in similar conduct, the suit said.
Arpaio's combative style and defiance of federal threats have made him a hero to nativists and conservatives who advocate strict border enforcement. Meanwhile he is a pariah to liberals and immigrant rights advocates.
He strongly denied the accusations and said the suit was all about politics.
"We are just doing our job enforcing the illegal immigration laws. We are not racists. We do not racial profile. There is no systemic proof of that. And quite frankly I am very happy that we are being sued because now we will make them put up everything they have been accusing me and my office of," he said.
"The bottom line here... I am not going to surrender my office to the federal government. I will fight this to the bitter end," he said.
In March, Arpaio drew headlines with an assertion that his office had found that President Barack Obama's birth certificate was a forgery. Most Republican critics of Obama have given up pursuing such widely discredited "birther" allegations.