JUSTICE UNSERVED
Nothing more than a façade: We all know the old saying: A grand jury will indict a ham sandwich. Why? Because grand juries do exactly what prosecutors tell them to do. The reality here is that the federal prosecutors investigating [Maricopa County Sheriff Joe] Arpaio's horrible misdeeds were only putting on a show. They never intended to indict Arpaio and his men ("Arpaio Amok," Stephen Lemons, September 6).
The Obama administration has been working with Arpaio like crazy to deport Mexicans. [Arpaio's] actions have helped amass more deportations than ever. How could [the feds] go after their colleague, however vile he's been?
I'm sure they would've preferred he hadn't painted a target on himself by trying to arrest and prosecute the judiciary and the owners of Village Voice Media — that way, they wouldn't have been forced to mount an investigation — but their four-year probe never was anything more than a façade.
Fred Morris, Phoenix
DOJ exposed as a joke: "If there is one lesson to be drawn, it is that prosecutors, in seeking justice, must exercise their charging discretion with great care."
Are you kidding us, Ann [Birmingham Scheel]? An [assistant] U.S. Attorney is just now drawing that lesson?
The Department of Justice has been exposed as a joke — nothing more than the political/legal arm of the Obama White House. Eric Holder, the Republicans in Congress aren't the only ones who hold you in contempt.
Chad Snow, Peoria
Thankful he's got one foot in the grave: Did [anybody] seriously expect a different result? We should all just be thankful that [80-year-old] Joe Arpaio's "expired by" date is fast approaching, that there soon will be what German war crimes prosecutors referred to as a "biological solution" to the problem.
Flashback to 1997 and the results of the first DOJ investigation ("U.S. Lawsuit Re-Alleges Abuse in Jails," Tony Ortega, November 6, 1997).
Nick Hentoff, New York, formerly of Phoenix
"Oh, no, no, no!": I was just beside myself when I read [that the feds had let Joe Arpaio off the legal hook]. I just kept saying "Oh, no, no, no!"
Sarah Smolowitz, Goodyear
No Babeu — this time: A "wet kiss" [to Arpaio from the feds], Mr. Lemons? I expected this story to somehow involve the Pinal County sheriff (see "Babeu Revealed," on our website).
Tommy Collins, Phoenix
Yeah, there is that: What were we expecting from the administration that gave us "Fast and Furious"?
Frank Woodbine, Chandler
Making Ian happy every Thursday: It was more amusing than usual to see Lemons sputtering impotently at the latest development in the Sheriff Joe criminal investigation.
His hysterics will be quite memorable if the sheriff is re-elected. It's great to see Lemons and this paper keeping the traditions of yellow journalism alive and kicking. I need something to laugh at on Thursdays.
Ian Carr, Mesa
Hardly the greatest: America's greatest sheriff [is the guy] who allowed hundreds of kids to be victims of sexual abuse so his overstaffed, douchebag-filled office could be freed up to conduct for-the-camera raids [in which] 10 or 11 illegals [were picked up each time] while allowing the owners of businesses [employing them] to walk free ("Victims Wonder Why Arpaio Let Sex-Abuse Cases Languish," Ray Stern, February 16).
This is America's greatest sheriff? Only a cunt would support such a cowardly media whore.
C.T. Stillers, city unavailable
