DOJ: Arizona Sheriff Arpaio Discriminated Against Latinos

Posted on Dec 15, 2011

Wikimedia Commons / Gage Skidmore (CC-BY-SA)

In federal trouble: Sheriff Joe Arpaio speaks in Phoenix in February.

Accounts of race-based biases and prejudiced policies have made Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio notorious in his home state of Arizona, but as of Thursday, Arpaio’s antics have earned him the wrong kind of attention from the Justice Department.  —KA

CNN:

Arizona’s Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, under the leadership of Sheriff Joe Arpaio, has engaged in systemic discrimination against Latinos with practices that violate federal law and the Constitution, the U.S. Justice Department announced Thursday.

A comprehensive investigation found the practices include “unlawful stops, detentions and arrests of Latinos,” according to a Justice Department statement.

It also noted that the sheriff’s office has discriminated against “Latino inmates with limited English by punishing them and denying critical services.”

It further blames the office for allowing “specialized units to engage in unconstitutional practices” and for a lack of oversight and deputy training.

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