Civil Rights

Voting Rights Under Siege by Republicans in The Third Reconstruction

A brilliant little gem from the makers of 9500 Liberty Believe it or not, once upon a time, Republicans were the ones fighting for the expansion of voting rights. Okay, so that was more than a century ago, following the Civil War. Still, it's interesting to watch this short video by Annabel Park ... More >>

Inspired By A True Story

Harry Reid Barks at the Moon, Asks Arizona Officials to Count Votes Quickly and Accurately

Attention elections officials across the state: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is asking that you all count the votes "promptly, accurately and equally."We weren't aware that everyone was just lollygagging and kind of just eyeballing the amount of votes for any given candidate, but now that the t ... More >>

Joe Arpaio's Early Christmas Gift from President Obama and the U.S. Attorney's Office

See also: Andy Thomas Needs a Perp Walk With His Papi, Sheriff Joe Arpaio See also: No Charges for Arpaio: U.S. Closes Criminal Investigation of Maricopa Sheriff and Former County Attorney Andrew Thomas See also: The Feds Have Evidence That Joe Arpaio Broke the Law -- When Will The Indictments Come? ... More >>

Justice Department Monitoring Election in Maricopa County to Keep the Racists at Bay

The Justice Department is stopping by Maricopa County during tomorrow's elections just to make sure no one's being racist to an illegal degree.The agency announced this morning that it's sending federal observers to three cities in Alabama, as well as Maricopa County to make sure everyone's complyin ... More >>

Are Joe Arpaio's Alleged Discriminations Against Spanish Speakers Civil-Rights Violations?

Yesterday, we told you about the response from Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's lawyers to the Justice Department lawsuit alleging racial-discrimination practices.Points made by Arpaio's laywers in an attempt to throw out a couple of the claims in the lawsuit contend discrimination against peopl ... More >>

Joe Arpaio on Blast by Tom Perez, Courtesy of Dennis Gilman

Tom Perez blasts Sheriff Joe in Phoenix yesterday Hey, did you hear that the U.S. Department of Justice is suing Sheriff Joe Arpaio?Well, in case you were hibernating beneath a saguaro yesterday, Assistant U.S. Attorney General Tom Perez was in town to blast everyone's least-favorite sheriff for his ... More >>

Arpaio Corruption: The Feds Have Spoken, But Justice Won't Be Served Until the Sheriff's Indicted

Findings of Racial-Profiling, Civil-Rights Investigation Into Sheriff Arpaio's Office to be Announced by Feds

​ The findings of a three-year probe into allegations of racial profiling and other civil rights allegations against Sheriff Joe Arpaio's office will be revealed this morning by the U.S. Justice Department.The Civil Rights Division has run a wide-ranging investigation into the "patterns and pr ... More >>

Findings of Racial-Profiling, Civil-Rights Investigation Into Sheriff Arpaio's Office to be Announced by Feds

​ The findings of a three-year probe into allegations of racial profiling and other civil rights allegations against Sheriff Joe Arpaio's office will be revealed this morning by the U.S. Justice Department.The Civil Rights Division has run a wide-ranging investigation into the "patterns and pr ... More >>

SB 1070 Boycott Over? NCLR Says, "Yes," Sal Reza Says, "Hell, No!"

irregulartimes.comBoycott over? Depends whom you ask. Sand Land's nativism, however, persists.Friday evening, I received the letter below signed by Janet Murguria of the National Council of La Raza, essentially declaring that the boycott of Arizona over Senate Bill 1070 is finito.Granted, the letter ... More >>

Paul Babeu's PIO and Neo-Nazi Harry Hughes Have At It Over BFF Photos

Harry Hughes' FacebookSeems Paul Babeu doesn't like this photograph of him and NSM member Harry Hughes (right, in black)A couple of weeks back, I blogged about how Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu's spokesman Tim Gaffney had apparently borrowed some stills of desert barricades taken by National Socia ... More >>

Federal Judge to Maricopa County Sheriff's Office: DWB (Driving While Brown) Isn't Actually a Crime

fromtheleft.wordpress.com​Apparently it takes a federal judge to tell the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office that being Hispanic isn't actually illegal. More than two years after a Hispanic father-son combo was arrested by MCSO deputies near the site of one of their infamous worksite raids, a feder ... More >>

Cloaked Brutality: The Feds Bury Border Patrol Abuses of Immigrants, But What's Been Unearthed Reveals a Culture of Cruelty

Joe Arpaio Sued by U.S. Department of Justice: What Took the Feds So Long?

Forget the lame lawsuit, we want to see Joe indictedAfter more than a year and a-half of investigation, requests for documents and access, and threats and deadlines, the U.S. Department of Justice has at last, reluctantly, taken some action and sued Sheriff Joe Arpaio in federal court to force him t ... More >>

Joe Arpaio in Non-Compliance, U.S. Department of Justice Threatens To Sue MCSO

The feds are nippin' at Arpaio's heels, finallyAssistant U.S. Attorney General Thomas Perez has sent a letter to Sheriff Joe's legal counsel, threatening to sue the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office if it does not comply with the U.S. Department of Justice's investigation into allegations of civil ri ... More >>

Saturday Night Live Skewers SB 1070; Al Sharpton Plans Freedom Walks in Arizona

Saturday Night LiveSNL's Weekend Update on Arizona: "It's a dry fascism"Like you need more proof that Arizona has become a national joke due to its wingnutty gun laws, its conspiranutty birther bill, and its racist new immigration law SB 1070, Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update took aim at the sta ... More >>

Russell Pearce's SB1070: Welfare for Anti-Immigration Lawyers, Says Attorney David Selden

Attorney David Selden on Russell Pearce's SB 1070As I previously blogged, state Senator Russell Pearce's police state bill SB 1070 is going to the floor of the House today for COW and a possible third read. Pearce's arguments for it are filled with half-truths and racist shibboleths, as he demonstra ... More >>

Barack Obama's Bald-Faced Hypocrisy on Immigration, and the Puente Crew Protests Eric Holder Monday Morning

Start raising hell and keep raising hell, because otherwise Obama won't do diddlyToday, President Barack Obama buffaloed tens of thousands of activists demanding immigration reform in Washington, D.C., appearing via video on jumbo screens, and telling the masses, according to the New York Times that ... More >>

RFK: The Journey to Justice

Feedback from the Issue of Thursday, December 24, 2009

The Pink Negro: As an Ivy League Lawyer, is President Barack Obama Hard Enough to Confront the Evil Personified by Sheriff Joe Arpaio?

Does U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke Have the Stones to Take on Sheriff Joe?

Joe Arpaio Apparently in Violation of ICE Agreement; New MOA Still Unsigned by ICE, Goes Before Supes Wednesday

Would you buy a used car from this guy, or a played out Memorandum of Agreement? By kvetching to the Arizona Republic and KTAR 92.3 FM's Jay Lawrence over the weekend about his brand-spanking new, 287(g) jails contract with ICE, has Arpaio thereby violated his agreements with ICE, bo ... More >>

ACLU to Host Forum on "Constitution-Free" Zone Near Border That Allows Checkpoints

Border Patrol checkpoints and their impact on civil rights will be discussed at a forum next week in Green Valley hosted by the American Civil Liberties Union. The topic is a hot one in the southern Arizona community, where some residents have fought plans to install a permanent checkpoint on Inte ... More >>

Al Sharpton, Mary Rose Wilcox, ACORN's Bertha Lewis, and Others Blast Joe Arpaio on Media Conference Call

photo by Juda EngelmayerRev. Al's got his eye on Sheriff Joe...As I promised in a previous blog post, I participated in a national conference call this morning, which featured the Rev. Al Sharpton of the National Action Network, ACORN CEO Bertha Lewis, Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox, ... More >>

Al Sharpton to Denounce Sheriff Joe Arpaio in Tuesday Press Conference

photo by David Shankbone Look out Joe, Rev. Al's comin' for ya... The left's finally bringin' out the big dogs to take on our racial-profilin' Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Tomorrow in Harlem, Rev. Al Sharpton will denounce Maricopa County's corrupt, tin-pot tyrant in a national press conference with B ... More >>

House Judiciary's Witness List for Thursday's 287(g) Hearing

I just received the witness list for Thursday's 287(g) hearing from New York Congressman Jerrold Nadler's office. At this point, it's highly unlikely that the Republicans will try to call Sheriff Joe Arpaio because the Dems are running the show, and Arpaio would be walking into a hostile environment ... More >>

E.J. Montini, Sheriff Joe Arpaio's New Best Bud

Maybe E.J. Montini should ask Maria del Carmen Garcia Martinez (left) if she feels the MCSO violated her civil rights?Why do I bother with a middlebrow muttonhead like the Republic's E.J. Montini? After all, this smug little scribbler is known for his milquetoasty opinions, his aversion to rocking t ... More >>

Arizona Felons Should Be Able to Vote More, Say ACLU

Okay, it's not the problems of the world are going to get solved if more convicted felons get out and vote. There are other reasons why Arizona should consider changing the way it disenfranchises ex-cons from the electoral process, according to a new report by the American Civil Liberties Union&nbs ... More >>

Walloping Janet Napolitano for Her Prop 102 Stance, The Word-Wrangling Wren Looks to Harvey Milk for Inspiration

Hart v. Arpaio civil rights class-action suit awaits verdict

Hispanic News' Jon Garrido disses gays (including Gov. Janet Napolitano), claims "98% of Hispanics" think likewise.

Say goodbye to separate-but-unequal at the Phoenix Country Club

AZ ACLU honors New Times founders Jim Larkin and Mike Lacey as Civil Libertarians of the Year.

Inmates' Rights Lawsuit Languishes

The unresolved Hart vs. Hill suit was filed 30 years ago in federal court. It brings up the same jailhouse abuses that occur today

Psychic TV's Genesis P-Orridge drops PR bomb on Tom Anderson.

Letters From the Issue of Thursday, April 19, 2007

Rock the Vote

A Phoenix man may serve five years in prison for — get this — voting

Cause Celeb

After years of wildly blasting the Chandler power structure, self-proclaimed civil rights advocate Ramon Gomez now finds himself under attack

Flashes 08-31-00

Dispatches From Uranus...

Habla Di, Habla Da, Strife Goes On

Federal ruling in bilingual-education lawsuit goes unheeded by state officials

When Photo Was King

Images from the Deep South take viewers on a walk through the civil rights era

Fed Up

The Justice Department investigates the county sheriff's officeagain

Pay Ball!

Stadium-tax foes strike out again in Superior Court

WHO KILLED KING?

THE VALLEY'S HOTTEST POLITICAL STRATEGISTS TEAMED UP TO PUSH MLK DAY. NO WONDER IT FAILED.

FEDS PROBE ALLEGED ABUSE IN COUNTY JAILJOE ARPAIO'S FAMOUS JAIL IS NOW THE SUBJECT OF A JUSTICE DEPARTMENT INVESTIGATION INTO POSSIBLE CIVIL RIGHTS VIOLATIONS

JUDICIAL INDESCRETIONSCONSERVATIVES PROPOSING NEW LAWS TO STEM FLOOD OF LAWSUITS BY INMATES

OBSTRUCTION IN THE MAINSTREAMHANDICAPPED KIDS CAN PROSPER IN REGULAR SCHOOL CLASSES--SOMETIMES AT THE EXPENSE OF OTHER STUDENTS

LAND OF THE FREE-FOR-ALL

WITH PROPOSITION 300--THE PRIVATE-PROPERTY-RIGHTS MEASURE--ARIZONA ONCE AGAIN BECOMES A BATTLEGROUND FOR A NATIONAL RIGHT-WING CRUSADE