Do you know who former Sheriff Joe Arpaio is? Well, to begin with, he was born of two immigrants from Italy. Yes, you heard me. Sherriff Joe, who is patently racist and anti-immigration/xenophobic, had parents who were immigrants. Joe first became a police officer in 1957, working as such, in Washington D.C. and Las Vegas, Nevada, before becoming a special agent for the FBI, in a division which later became the DEA. While working 25 years for the DEA he served in Argentina, Turkey, and Mexico. He first became Sherriff of Maricopa County, in 1992 and was reelected in 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, and in 2012.
And in that twenty years, he left a trail of abuse, crime, and neglect in every place which he managed, and millions of dollars paid out in settlements.
Arpaio, MCSO, illegal immigrants, constitutional rights, sex crimes, and neglect
In Joe Arpaio’s jail, in Maricopa County, he committed such violations of constitutional rights as to feed his inmates moldy bread, rotten fruit, and contaminated food. His jails denied basic health care to inmates. A Federal Judge in 2008 and again in 2010 ruled that Maricopa County jails violated inmates constitutional rights in medical and care-related issues. I think it prudent to mention here before I go on that those defending Arpaio accuse the Obama administration of waging a political war against Joe.
The problem with that is that Arpaio has been in legal trouble since the 90’s at least. Neglect and violations of inmates rights are just a tiny tip of the iceberg.
The Maricopa County Sherrif’s Office(MCSO) told ABC’s "Nightline" in 2009, that out of 7,346 crimes, only 944, or 15% were cleared via arrest. During a three year period of neglect that ended in 2007, more than 400 sex crimes reported to Arpaio’s office were inadequately handled.
In El Mirage, Arizona, under Arpaio’s command, in at least 30 child sexual assault cases, and with suspects in all but 6 of them, the MSCO failed to follow through. Incidentally, and not surprisingly with Arpaio's unabashed racism, in many of the cases, the victims were children of illegal immigrants.
Arpaio, Sabrina Morrison rape mishandled, settled
Then, of course, everyone might recall the 2007 case of the 13-year-old girl, Sabrina Morrison, who had been raped by her uncle, Patrick Morrison. The MSCO, under Arpaio, mishandled the case so badly, one might even say it had to have been intentional. A rape kit was taken and then the detective on the case told Sabrina and family that there was no evidence, not even from the rape kit. He lied. The lab had found evidence and had requested a blood sample from the accused.
The detective filed the kit and closed the case. Sabrina’s family having been led to believe she was lying, no longer believed her.The rapes continued and Sabrina was eventually impregnated and had an abortion.
It was not until 2012 that Patrick Morrison was arrested and charged with merely one count of sexual conduct with a minor. Also in 2012, Sabrina filed a 30 million dollar notice of claim, which is a precursor to a lawsuit, against Joe Arpaio and Maricopa County. It was eventually settled by the county for 3.5 million dollars.
Donald Trump, Joe Arpaio, constitutional rights, violations, and abuse of power
Sherrif Joe Arpaio is not just guilty of contempt of court friends. Joe is guilty of Abuse Of Power for political purposes, misuse of funds, violations of constitutional and civil rights, fraud and the list goes on. He even had his detective stage an assassination plot, entrapping a young man and costing his 4 years of his life.
An incident from which he also walked away.
The gall and/or "deer in the headlights" stupidity of Donald Trump, to pardon such a person, is far worse than is easily imagined. And we are not talking about something as simple as pardoning someone who disobeyed a judges order. A crime which is usually punishable by up to six months in jail. We are talking about a pathological disregard for the letter of the law and the Constitution of the United States. We are also talking about the fact that Donald Trump is abusing his power by pardoning a habitual criminal, an abusive tyrant, and a hypocritical, xenophobic racist. And still, we do nothing.
