By Stephen Lemons
September 20, 2012
How stupid does Sheriff Joe Arpaio think the citizens of Maricopa County are?
At least as stupid as "Randall," a...
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By Paul Rubin
June 14, 2012
A few months ago, Alan DeLong sat down to watch a new reality show on the Discovery Channel.
First Week In goes...
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By Stephen Lemons
June 14, 2012
It takes a twisted individual to delight in the sufferings of the mentally ill. A special type of sick, sadistic bully....
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By Stephen Lemons
January 05, 2012
I'm sitting in a restaurant in Peoria on Monday with the family of Ernest "Marty" Atencio, who was laid to rest today...
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By Michael Lacey
December 09, 2010
Deborah Braillard, mother
(1991)
Mom taught me to sew.
And I' m going to teach my own baby, Jennylee....
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By Stephen Lemons
August 26, 2010
ROACH MOTEL
Dead rats in the evening slop. Cells so full of cockroaches that you sleep in a mass of them. No...
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By Lauren Gilger
April 15, 2010
When Bertha Oropeza was arrested last summer for marijuana possession, she didn't expect it to nearly cost her life.
But...
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By Sarah Fenske
February 18, 2010
If Andrew Thomas were the one telling this story, he'd probably begin it on December 12, 2008.
That's the day Thomas,...
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By Paul Rubin
February 11, 2010
Sheriff Joe Arpaio's public-relations team issued a joyous press release after winning a civil rights case in U.S....
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By Stephen Lemons
January 07, 2010
CHRISTMAS ANGEL
Miriam Mendiola-Martinez is a small woman, but her passive, sad demeanor makes her seem smaller. When...
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By Valeria Fernández
October 22, 2009
Editor's note: This is one of a group of individual accounts of racial profiling by Sheriff Joe Arpaio's forces.
The...
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By Stephen Lemons
October 15, 2009
CELIA'S ANGUISH
On the surface, a Sunday morning at the home of Celia Alejandra Alvarez Herrera seems bright and...
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By Stephen Lemons
October 15, 2009
Editor's note: This is one of a group of individual accounts of racial profiling by Sheriff Joe Arpaio's forces.
Rosa...
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From the beak of The Bird to the ear of Stephen Lemons
January 22, 2009
SADIST'S DELIGHT
This tweeter's been spending a lot of time behind bars lately. And no, he doesn't mean he's been mixing...
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By John Dickerson
November 20, 2008
Juan Mendoza Farias was handcuffed and alone in a jail cell when guards opened the hatch on his cell door and fired more...
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By Michael Lacey
October 30, 2008
The most visible hammer of ethnic cleansing in greater Phoenix — which has swept 50,000 Mexicans from our community...
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By John Dickerson
October 30, 2008
Ambrett Spencer sat up in bed. It was 2:40 a.m., and the pain in her stomach was not right. She was nine months pregnant,...
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By Ray Stern
October 23, 2008
In any other place, the publicity Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has received recently would be seen as, well,...
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By John Dickerson
October 16, 2008
Almost a year after New Times' two top executives were arrested and jailed, a federal judge dismissed parts of the...
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By John Dickerson
October 09, 2008
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's jail accreditation was terminated last month — even as he awaited a federal...
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By John Dickerson
September 11, 2008
On December 2, 2007, a 40-year-old man named Juan Mendoza Farias was arrested and booked into the Maricopa County Jail....
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By John Dickerson
September 11, 2008
Juan Mendoza Farias' death came at a particularly inconvenient time for Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. The date...
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By John Dickerson
June 12, 2008
After a decades-long court battle with Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his predecessors, a lawsuit alleging poor conditions in the...
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From the beak of The Bird to the ear of Stephen Lemons
June 05, 2008
CRACKPOT KAREN
Like Larry King or the species of common cockroach, the 9/11 "troof" crowd will never completely...
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From the beak of The Bird to the ear of Stephen Lemons
January 31, 2008
NO HOLDS BARRED
What ICE doesn't know won't hurt it.
That's the Sheriff's Office policy regarding immigration "holds"...
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From the beak of The Bird to the ear of Stephen Lemons
January 10, 2008
Nothing makes this mallard madder than Tyra Banks after someone's said her booty's too big than having the truth-twisters...
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The unresolved Hart vs. Hill suit was filed 30 years ago in federal court. It brings up the same jailhouse abuses that occur today
By John Dickerson
December 20, 2007
The lawyer behind the arrests of New Times executives Michael Lacey and Jim Larkin is central in a seminal lawsuit...
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Corpses, a flesh-eating virus, the most-sued sheriff in America. Lawsuits against Joe Arpaio have cost us $41 million, so far
By John Dickerson
December 20, 2007
Maricopa County law enforcement violated the constitutional rights of this newspaper's readers in October. Using secret...
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Beaten, hanged, strangled, and ignored, these men and a woman lost their lives in Sheriff Joe Arpaio's custody
By John Dickerson
December 20, 2007
• On March 26, 1996, Jose Rodriquez, 39, died in a pool of his own vomit on a jail floor. His cries for help went...
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The vexed vulture swoops down on mean ol' Sheriff Joe, then sides with a nativist (for a change) against the mothers of MADD
From the beak of The Bird to the ear of Stephen Lemons
October 18, 2007
It's official. The former Soviet Union's freer, kinder, and safer for the indigent and the sick than Maricopa County....
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The pissed-off puffin paddles fellow journalists, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, and an FBI monkey-spanker at U of A
From the beak of The Bird to the ear of Stephen Lemons
May 31, 2007
How does Sheriff Joe Arpaio get away metaphorically speaking with murder?
With the assistance of useful...
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The cranky cockatoo criticizes Sheriff Joe's new jail mail policy, and agitates the agitators at last week's kooky counter-protest
From the beak of The Bird to the ear of Stephen Lemons
May 10, 2007
As if this outraged owl needed more proof that Maricopa County's gone mad, Sheriff "Nickel Bag" Joe Arpaio announced two...
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A federal jury returned a $9 million verdict against Maricopa County in still another jailhouse death
By John Dougherty
March 30, 2006
A federal jury awarded $9 million to the family and estate of a 33-year-old man who died after Maricopa County detention...
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A county psychiatrist's indifferent treatment of a disturbed inmate leads to a courthouse hanging
By Paul Rubin
June 02, 2005
At 2:30 p.m. on May 14, 2002, Maricopa County jail psychiatrist Joe Franzetti scribbled a note into the medical chart of...
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Napolitano should get behind the state's new fire marshal and force Tent City's closure
By John Dougherty
February 24, 2005
Tents have gone up in flames before at Sheriff Joe Arpaio's infamous outdoor compound.
And there's no reason to think...
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That's what a group led by the well-connected family of one of Arpaio's own injured deputies is working to see happen
By John Dougherty
February 10, 2005
Yeah, he won still another term in the November general election, but there's reason for hope that Maricopa County...
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There's a difference between justice and vengefulness -- something that's lost on Sheriff Joke.
By John Dougherty
July 29, 2004
As you turn down the air conditioning in your dark living room during these brutal summer evenings, think for a moment...
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Bad jokes and corporate canoodling sum up Cinco affair
May 22, 2003
Good News
Sheriff Joe Arpaio's legal attempt to block attorneys from releasing information to New Times regarding the...
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New Times really hit a nerve this time. Sheriff Joe wants a federal judge to shut us up.
By Robert Nelson
March 06, 2003
In a legal maneuver apparently designed to honor yours truly while offering up a barrel of fish for shooting, stunningly...
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New evidence suggests Sheriff Joe's running his empire as if it were a Mexican prison
By Robert Nelson
January 23, 2003
If new information in an inmate-beating case is any indication and if there's any justice in this world ...
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A prisoner was nearly beaten to death behind bars for a crime he didn't commit. Was he set up by Sheriff Joe's henchmen?
By Robert Nelson
December 26, 2002
Jefferson Davis McGee was not the man who raped and killed 8-year-old Elizabeth Byrd.
But on May 28, 2001, McGee was...
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Did Eric Vogel die because of another beating in Sheriff Joe Arpaio's jail?
By Robert Nelson
March 14, 2002
Eric Vogel was terrified to walk from his house. He imagined getting lost and confused. He imagined police arresting him...
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If Joe Arpaio runs for governor, he'll win if people forget he's a madman
By Robert Nelson
March 07, 2002
Joe Arpaio is a psychopath.
Arpaio is considering running for governor of Arizona. He'll announce his decision March...
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No guts, no glory for over-the-top PR guy
By Robert Nelson
July 26, 2001
David Hans Schmidt cackles gleefully every time he sees the 13-inch surgical scar down the belly of Jefferson Davis...
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It hasn't been cheap keeping the Joe Show aloft. Now, his employees, his inmates and the citizens of Maricopa County are paying the price.
By Robert Nelson
April 05, 2001
Hitmen hurriedly stabbed Jaime Sanchez four times, then dashed for anonymity among the other inmates on the sixth floor...
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February 24, 2000
The Joke's on You
Could Joke Arpaio find himself living in a tent soon?
It could happen, unless the Maricopa County...
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County inmate Lance Hawthorne died in a cell whose vent had been closed as a form of punishment
By Tony Ortega
May 06, 1999
Lance Paul Hawthorne was not a model citizen.
When a landlord attempted in 1989 to evict Hawthorne for not paying...
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County jails are understaffed, but there seems to be plenty of money for the sheriff's pet projects
By Tony Ortega
April 22, 1999
While he spends lavishly on new offices, a bulletproof car and new employees to fight cat mutilations, Sheriff Joe Arpaio...
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In an apparent repeat of its behavior in the Norberg case, the sheriff's office withheld key evidence from litigant
By Tony Ortega
April 15, 1999
For more than two years, the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office withheld a videotape that contains key evidence in a...
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Tweaker inmate who died at the hands of jailers was also a loving son
By David Holthouse
April 15, 1999
I'm watching a snuff film, and it's hard-core. The snuffers--there's a pack of them, male and female--are in uniforms....
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Norberg family accepts hefty settlement in jail suit. Are similar payouts in Arpaio's future?
By Tony Ortega
January 14, 1999
Joe Arpaio became Maricopa County sheriff in 1992 by taking advantage of dissatisfaction over Tom Agnos. The former...
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January 14, 1999
A Running Joke
The news just keeps getting worse for Sheriff Joke Arpaio. Besides the $8.25 million settlement with...
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Sheriff's office reluctantly turns over drug report on dead inmate
By Tony Ortega
December 17, 1998
For more than two years, the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office has kept secret a toxicologist's report concluding inmate...
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The Justice Department investigates the county sheriff's officeagain
By Tony Ortega
December 10, 1998
The U.S. Department of Justice is conducting criminal investigations into the deaths of county jail inmates Scott Norberg...
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October 22, 1998
The Joke's on Katie
Sheriff Joke Arpaio made another stellar showing in his ongoing campaign to promote...
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The county's jails are crammed full. But not with the dangerous felons backers of an initiative to raise money for new jails would have you believe.
By Tony Ortega
September 24, 1998
"No turning around, ladies," says a beefy detention officer to the seven women slumped in plastic chairs.
Behind...
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Lawyer for dead inmate's kin accuses county of "intentional destruction" of key evidence
By Tony Ortega
September 10, 1998
Almost two years after Sheriff Joe Arpaio cleared his detention officers of wrongdoing in the death of inmate Scott...
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By Barry Graham
July 16, 1998
According to the law, a person charged with a crime is presumed innocent until he's proved guilty in court. But, in...
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May 14, 1998
Wheels of Disfortune
The human oxymoron: He postures as a do-the-crime-do-the-time lawman, then talks those evil...
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By Barry Graham
January 22, 1998
We've said it all along, and now it's official: Sheriff Joe Arpaio is a liar. And not much better can be said about his...
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For the second time, a federal investigator has found appalling conditions in the county jails
By Tony Ortega
January 15, 1998
On March 1, 1994, while awaiting trial on burglary, county jail inmate Matthew Creamer was beaten so badly there were...
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By Tony Ortega
November 06, 1997
The federal government followed up its two-year investigation of Maricopa County's jails Friday by filing a lawsuit...
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Iceland supreme court unanimously opposes grandparents' extradition to county jails
By Tony Ortega
October 23, 1997
Iceland's supreme court has upheld the decision of a lower-court judge who had refused to extradite Connie and Donald...
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September 25, 1997
So That's How She Got Her Job!
A reader grateful that the Flash featured KPNX-TV Channel 12 anchor Jineane Ford's role...
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International group urges immediate stop to Arpaio jail practices
By Tony Ortega
September 18, 1997
For more than 20 years, people around the world have participated in Amnesty International's letter-writing campaigns to...
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By Jeremy Voas
August 28, 1997
When is news not news?
When you don't get it from the Arizona Republic.
Last week, through the wonders of modern...
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July 31, 1997
Why Fife's Defendantsy
If the conviction bug bites Governor J. Fife Symington III, deliberations over his sentence...
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Crohn's disease sufferer Damon Dreckmeier was sentenced to 111 days in the county jail. Denied a few dollars' worth of daily prescription medication, he was rushed to the hospital five times, undergoing two surgeries. Taxpayers will pay for his treatment,
By Tony Ortega
July 24, 1997
Damon Dreckmeier's blood was coming out both ends of him, and it had been coming out for hours.
Vomited blood ran out...
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County pays $50,000 in case of inmate who committed suicide while jailers watched a video of Sheriff Joe Arpaio
By Tony Ortega
July 17, 1997
At least 19 jail inmates have died on Sheriff Joe Arpaio's watch. Others have been maimed. A man who is paralyzed below...
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Icelandic judge stays extradition, saying Arpaio's jails violate standards of humane treatment
By Tony Ortega
July 10, 1997
An Icelandic court has found that two American fugitives should not be extradited to Maricopa County because of the...
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May 29, 1997
What follows are excerpts from Sheriff Joe Arpaio's April 21 deposition.
Joel Robbins: In terms of your knowledge of...
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Arpaio tries to distance himself from pronouncements about punishing inmates
By Tony Ortega
May 29, 1997
Faced with a series of trials, an Arizona official turns up the public relations machine to full tilt, launching a string...
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By Tony Ortega
May 22, 1997
Sheriff Joe Arpaio loves to point out that his fame has spread beyond the United States, but increasingly, that...
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March 27, 1997
Open Yer Mouse and Shay Aah
If you are an alcohol- or drug-addicted doctor, Sue Gerard is your salvation.
State...
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March 20, 1997
Longest Flash on Record
The Flash couldn't help enjoying the view as Sheriff Joke Arpaio went into complete...
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March 06, 1997
It's Only $2 Billion
Before Governor J. Fife Symington III seized power, state retirees knew their $13 billion nest...
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Richard Post was taken to jail in his wheelchair for mouthing off in a bar. Joe Arpaio's detention officers saw him as such a threat, they strapped him into a medieval restraint chair--and broke his neck.
By Tony Ortega
January 23, 1997
Richard Post spent only a few hours in Madison Street Jail, but in Sheriff Joe Arpaio's penal colony, no stay is too...
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By Tony Ortega
January 23, 1997
A financial time bomb sits ticking in a Maricopa County file drawer. Among thousands of mundane tax cases and routine...
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December 26, 1996
Why Ignorance Is Bliss
On a recent Southwest Airlines flight, The Flash dug deeply into the seatback pocket and struck...
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December 05, 1996
Time is one thing prisoners have plenty of. What to do with all that time?
When they're not conjuring diabolical plots to...
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December 05, 1996
Germaine Steudler was arrested on September 19 for a probation violation. What follows are excerpts from her journal.
...
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December 05, 1996
PNI Confidential
The Flash has often noted that the Arizona Republic seems intent on offending nobody but its readers....
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By John Mecklin
December 05, 1996
Something felt awful and familiar as I strolled toward the set of Sheriff Joe Arpaio's latest made-for-TV movie (Charred...
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Complaints about tainted food and inmate abuse pour forth in wake of Tent City riot
By Tony Ortega
November 28, 1996
Television reporters called in live broadcasts from the Durango Jail complex last Wednesday night when it looked as...
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November 21, 1996
Sheriff Joke's Unhappy Campers
When word of the Tent City riot reached The Flash, his first reaction was: What took so...
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Sheriff's summary of probe into inmate's death omits alarming details
By Tony Ortega
October 24, 1996
The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office has distilled its four-month investigation of jail inmate Scott Norberg's death into...
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Two inmates commit suicide in the space of a week; feds had warned Arpaio of unsafe "overhanging structures"
By Tony Ortega
August 22, 1996
Detention officers at Sheriff Joe Arpaio's Madison Street Jail made a grisly discovery on August 9. In the sixth-floor...
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June 27, 1996
One Spirited Adversary
Jerry Colangelo and his partners may want to consider voodoo economics. Remember Beatrice...
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June 13, 1996
All the News That Fits, They Print
Those easternliberalmediaelite have done it again. They come into town with their...
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By Tony Ortega
June 06, 1996
On May 22, as he fielded questions on KFYI radio, Sheriff Joe Arpaio scoffed at accusations that his Tent City jail is...
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If the jailers had paid attention, they might have noticed that Jose Rodriquez was dying
By Amy Silverman
June 06, 1996
Jose Rodriquez died just before noon, curled up on a mattress on a concrete floor, his head resting in his own vomit.
...
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Jail inmate with 50 bullet fragments in arm waits months for medical treatment
By John Dougherty
December 07, 1995
The .38-caliber "snake shot" ripped into the back of Bayard Horton's left hand on that night in August, leaving more than...
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By John Mecklin
September 21, 1995
When I was a reporter not long ago, I often found myself in the same crowd of journalists as one particular television...
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By Amy Silverman
August 31, 1995
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio likes to boast about all the attention he receives from the national media, mostly for...
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August 23, 1995
Earth to Joe
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has gained international fame for his harsh treatment of criminals. Just...
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By Dave Walker
January 20, 1994
Joe Arpaio's Tent City, where the sheriff sends overflow from the Madison Street Jail, is the most colorful local...
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PACK 'EM IN AND TAKE AWAY THEIR RIGHTS. THAT'S SHERIFF JOE ARPAIO'S PHILOSOPHY
By John Dougherty
November 24, 1993
Kenneth Wayne Reed keeps meticulous records.
He has to. His future absolutely depends on it.
Locked in Maricopa County's...
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