Civil Rights

Black Leaders in Phoenix Struggle to Retain Power in a District They've Historically Controlled

Arizona's "Nativist Extremist" Groups Nearing Extinction, According to Report

The nativist movement is in its "death throes," according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.The organization's new report has documented three such groups in Arizona, which is a low number, considering 21 were documented in 2009.

Pinal County Democratic Party Calls On Sheriff Paul Babeu to Put Duties As Sheriff Above His Congressional Aspirations

The Pinal County Democrats aren't happy with Sheriff Paul Babeu's latest rhetoric about pushing for a law making it a crime for federal law enforcement officers to enforce President Barack Obama's proposals to reduce gun violence. Yeah, he did say that. Babeu brought it up during an appearance on ... More >>

Reverend Al Sharpton Reveals on National Television that the Emperor of Pinal County, Paul Babeu, Has No Clothes (ICYMI)

We all know the Danish tale about the emperor whose men and subjects stroke him in admiration over his new clothes. Of course, as the story goes, the emperor isn't actually wearing any clothes. Instead of questioning the obvious, everyone basks in a collective ignorance. Until a little boy in the c ... More >>

Joe Arpaio's Lawyers Fail to Get Sheriff Off the Hook in Justice Department Lawsuit

Lawyers for Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio have failed in their attempt to get the Justice Department's racial-discrimination lawsuit tossed.Chief U.S. District Judge Roslyn Silver made a ruling this week on the June motion to throw out the suit against Arpaio, the Sheriff's Office, and the coun ... More >>

SB 1070's "Papers Please" Section Can Go Into Effect, Judge Rules

See also: The Supreme Court's 1070 Ruling Is No Win for Teabaggers See also: SB 1070 Slugfest: Will Judge Susan Bolton Block 1070's "Papers Please" Section? See also: SB 1070 Oral Arguments on "Papers Please" Section Scheduled for August 21 See also: ACLU Seeks New Injunction on "Papers Please" Port ... More >>

SB 1070: Supreme Court Upholds "Papers Please" Section, Invalidates Others

SCOTUSBlog.com is reporting that Section 2(b) of Arizona's immigration law, Senate Bill 1070, has been upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court as not pre-empted by federal immigration law.Of the court's decision, SCOTISBlog writes, "It was improper for the lower courts to enjoin section 2(b), which require ... More >>

Joe Arpaio Lawyers: Discriminating Against Spanish-Speakers Doesn't Violate Civil Rights

The lawyers for Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio responded late last week to the Justice Department lawsuit alleging racial-discrimination practices by the Sheriff's Office, not surprisingly, asking for it to be tossed.One would expect that the response would be interesting to allegations of the w ... More >>

Mayor of Connecticut Suburb Would Fit Right In Among Arizona Politicians

Apparently, Arizona hasn't cornered the market on blatant insensitivity to the Latino community. In case you missed it, Mayor Joseph Maturo Jr. of East Haven, Connecticut shared some thoughts with a reporter who questioned him about how he was going to reach out to the Latino community. He makes t ... More >>

Can Arpaio's "Culture of Bias" Be Fixed? DOJ Reform Plan Involves Training and New Policies

​Back in the late 1990s, the Justice Department ordered Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio to stop the physical and medical abuse of inmates in county jails.The problems persist more than a decade later, despite the Department's stipulations for reform.Today, the Justice Department ordered Arp ... More >>

Russell Pearce's Allies at Cave Creek's Sonoran News Slime an Innocent Woman in an Attempt to Besmirch the Effort Seeking His Recall

Senate Passes Legislation to End Distribution of Spanish-Language Election Material

Arizona SenateRookie senator, veteran boot-licker.​The Arizona Senate passed legislation yesterday that would eliminate Spanish translation of election materials in information booklets distributed by the Secretary of State. Russell Pearce acolyte -- or is it wannabe? -- Sen. Steve Smith, R-M ... More >>

New York Times Criticizes Salvador Reza's False Arrest

Reza's false arrest: Not big enough for the Republic?Though the false collar of Phoenix's best known civil rights leader by a goon squad of sheriff's deputies has rated only begrudging coverage in the Arizona Republic, the New York Times evidently thinks the incident significant enough to condemn.In ... More >>

JOE ARPAIO POLICE STATE: Video of Sal Reza's False Arrest

Is this America, or is this a Third World dictatorship? You decide.Puente has posted this new video of Phoenix civil rights leader Sal Reza's arrest Friday. Literally, it looks like something out of a film by Costa-Gavras. The sort of thing that happens in Third World dictatorships. That is, a polit ... More >>

SB 1070 Showdown at the Sandra Day O'Connor Courthouse, Round One

Attorney Stephen Montoya (center) with Phoenix police officer David Salgado (left) and CPLC President Edmundo Hidalgo (right) With the cries of demonstrators on both sides of the SB 1070 debate reverberating inside the steamy glass cage of Phoenix's Sandra Day O'Connor U.S. Courthous ... More >>

ACLU, NAACP and Other Groups Seek Federal Injunction to Stop SB 1070

from ACLU.orgThe ACLU started the legal war against SB 1070 in earnest todayAs it had announced it would do last week, the ACLU along with several other groups filed suit in federal court today, seeking to have Arizona's "papers please" legislation enjoined before it's scheduled to take effect by th ... More >>

SB 1070: Many Shout That Arizona's New Immigration Law Has Awakened a Sleeping Giant Who's Ready to Kick Some Political and Economic Backside

Jan Brewer Calls Press Conference for 1:30 p.m., Is Expected to Sign SB 1070

Governor Jan Brewer's announcing her decision on SB 1070 at 1:30 p.m.Over the objections of the President of the United States, and a wide array of police, civil rights and religious groups and leaders, Governor Jan Bewer is expected to announce the signing of Russell Pearce's bigot bill SB 1070 at ... More >>

Russell Pearce Apologist Russ Jones' CNN Commentary, My CNN Piece, and SB 1070's Fake "Civil Rights Provision"

Russ Jones: Carrying water for Russell PearceArizona state House Representative Russ Jones has penned an opinion piece for CNN, offering excuses for Russell Pearce's bigot bill SB 1070, which now sits on Governor Jan Brewer's desk awaiting action.I also penned an opinion piece for CNN on SB 107 ... More >>

Joe Arpaio on False McDonald's Arrest: Take All Brown People into Custody, Release Citizens Later

Arpaio shrugs off his arrest of an innocent American girlIf you're Hispanic in Maricopa County, Sheriff Joe's goons have probable cause to arrest you on suspicion of being undocumented. Hey, they can always release you later.That's the word from the elephant's mouth after an MCSO raid on four area M ... More >>

Eric Holder on Joe Arpaio Probe: DOJ Expects "Results," Investigation Ongoing

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder: Still waiting on the "results" of the Arpaio probeWith demonstrators outside the Phoenix federal courthouse clamoring for Sheriff Joe Arpaio's head, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder today characterized the Department of Justice investigation into Arpaio's office a ... More >>

Phoenix Councilman Michael Johnson Dissed by Police Union He's Supported

In a battle between a former and current police officer, the Phoenix police union's sticking with the cop on the job. ​ Even though the former cop is Phoenix City Councilman Michael Johnson, a longtime union supporter.   Better to stand by Officer Brian Authement, a two-ye ... More >>

Russell Pearce Bigot Bill Scuttled by Freedom's Phoenix? And Ernie Hancock Calls Pearce a "Judas Goat"

ErnestHancock.comErnie Hancock and Freedom's Phoenix to the rescue? Sure looks like it...Let's hear it for the Libertarians. It seems civil liberties concerns raised by writers like John Green over at Freedom's Phoenix may have gotten the Ron Paul-wing of the local GOP up in arms over a provisi ... More >>

DOJ Committed to Investigation of Joe Arpaio, According to Spokesman

The DOJ offers no guarantees it will act to stop the sheriff's ongoing civil rights abusesYesterday, I spoke with Alejandro Miyar, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division, which is currently investigating civil rights violations by Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his deputies.T ... More >>

Joe Arpaio Under the Microscope: DOJ Team in Phoenix, According to Multiple Sources

photo by Adriane GoetzHey, the DOJ's in town, Joe. Time for another sweep?What a difference a couple of days make. Less than 72 hours ago, members of the pro-immigrant community in Phoenix were kvetching to me about the lack of follow-through on the part of the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rig ... More >>

Sheriff Joe's Bigoted Deputies Harass an Activist in Video from September

Back in September, shortly after MCSO's South Phoenix anti-immigrant sweep, I blogged about a 2006 letter signed by Sheriff Joe to the head of Phoenix Copwatch acknowledging the constitutional right of citizens to videotape his deputies in public.Galindo's first video of his run in with the MCSO at ... More >>

Joe Arpaio's "First Amendment Rights" Defended by Janet Napolitano

screenshot from americanprogress.orgJanet Napolitano, speaking at the Center for American ProgressIn a speech today before the Center for American Progress, the think-tank which essentially acts as the Obama administration's gray matter, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano spo ... More >>

Joe Arpaio on Glenn Beck Re: Mexican Migrants, "They Like to Fight Each Other"; and Al Sharpton Returns the Day of the Sweep

Glenn Beck has some fun at Arpaio's expense on Beck's Fox TV show I normally loathe Glenn Beck and his smarmy posturings, but I may have to reconsider that attitude after watching Beck mercilessly mess with our geriatric top gendarme on his Friday show. At points, Beck openly makes fun of Arpaio, ... More >>

"The 1964 and 1965 Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts -- an Historical Perspective"

Letter to Obama Urges End to 287(g), Signed by 521 Organizations

from the White House President Obama gets whacked, but from the left this time​A just-released letter to President Barack Obama endorsed by a diverse group of 521 civil rights, legal and cultural organizations -- including the ACLU, the ADL, MALDEF, the NAACP Legal Defense Fu ... More >>

Alveda King

Alveda King

Justice Department, Homeland Security Investigators in Phoenix This Week, Looking Into Joe Arpaio, Monitoring the March

Joe wanted the feds to pay a visit, and now they're here Joe Arpaio has always bragged that he wants the feds to "come on down," like in The Price Is Right. This week, they're taking him up on his offer. One of the news outlets Joe loves to leak stuff to, aka the Arizona Republic, just posted ... More >>

Janet Napolitano Delays Immigration Raids, But Where's the Movement on 287(g)?

Like a rock in the desert sun, she will not move unless you push her.I just saw this report in the Washington Post indicating that Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has put the brakes on some pending ICE raids, as part of a new policy that will supposedly target employers more than worker ... More >>

John Conyers' House Judiciary Committee to Hold 287(g) Hearing April 2

from Congressman Nadler's Web site NYC Congressman Jerry Nadler (left), with House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers. Trying to get info out of Washington, D.C. from here in Sand Land is like attempting to obtain cheese directly from the cow's teat sometimes. Nevertheless, I'm in rece ... More >>

John Conyers to Hold Hearings on Sheriff Joe Arpaio's Abuses, and Video from Wednesday's Arpaio Pile On in D.C.

One clip from today's media event denouncing Joe Arpaio, and heralding the investigation into him by the U.S. Department of Justice. The big news out of D.C. for us here in Sand Land, of course, is that the Justice Department is investigating Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his office for civil rights viol ... More >>

Joe Arpaio Blasted by John Conyers, Zoe Lofgren, Mary Rose Wilcox Tomorrow in D.C.

Check this video the group America's Voice has been using to gather signatures for the anti-Joe petition to be ballyhooed tomorrow. This is one I wish I could be in D.C. for: Tomorrow at 1 p.m., House Judiciary Chair John Conyers, Immigration Subcommittee Chairwoman Zoe Lofgren, and apparently our o ... More >>

Arizona Civil Rights Advisory Board Asks BOS to Terminate Joe Arpaio's 287(g) Agreement with ICE

Though I won't be holding my breath for a snappy response from the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, the Arizona Civil Rights Advisory Board -- which is made up of volunteers appointed by the Governor -- has written BOS Chairman Andy Kunasek, asking that the Supervisors consider the immediate re ... More >>

Federal Judge Found a Litany of Inhumane Problems in Joe Arpaio's Jails

Seven Straight Nights for Equal Rights '08

ACLU, MALDEF lawsuit slams MCSO, demands relief from racial profiling.

Straitjacket Jan Brewer

Empowering the Secretary of State, especially this secretary of state, to decide when elections can be suspended is a crazy idea. Sanity must prevail in state government

Letters

Letters from the week of February 17, 2005

Kid Sharpton

Jarret Maupin is the reverend Al's handpicked protégé. Is Phoenix City Hall ready?

Karen in the Hot Seat

Gays are okay, except sometimes

Dead Men Talking

The ACLU is fighting a state law that keeps death row inmates off the Web

A Privates Matter

Did a teacher at Estrella Mountain Community College lose her job over what's under her skirt?

No, No, Janet

WHOSE VOICE IS THAT?

AN ASU AUTHOR EXAMINES THE SOURCES OF MARTIN LUTHER KING'S POWERFUL WORDS

DISAPPEARING ACTS

IF SLICK WILLY WON'T MAKE THE CASE FOR RACIAL JUSTICE, WHO WILL? A NEW TIMES EXCLUSIVE.