Constitutional Law

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 >>

Arizona Ballot Propositions: How to Vote Against (or With) Russell Pearce and His Ilk

Here's the thing about the propositions on the ballot for tomorrow's election: for the most part, they're boring, and at the end of the day, you may not really give a damn.Thankfully, people like ousted state Senate President Russell Pearce, Governor Jan Brewer, and the lobbyists from Center for Ari ... 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 >>

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 >>

There's a Guy Named Johnny Bones, and He's Causing Drama in the City of Tombstone

​There's a gentleman in Tombstone who goes by the name of Johnny Bones, and he's causing a ruckus.Bones was arrested in February, and the American Civil Liberties Union now says Bones is being subjected to "malicious, unconstitutional" prosecution.There's some real Wild West stuff going on here.Ac ... More >>

Paul Babeu Touts Gay Rights While LGBT Inmates in His Jail Suffer

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 >>

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

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 >>

Russell Pearce's "Anchor Baby" Bills Pulled from Agenda, but Don't Get Your Hopes Up

Don't kid yourselves. Pearce's anti-anchor-baby bills are alive and kickin'The bigoted bills state Senate president Russell Pearce has been pushing to undermine the birthright citizenship provision of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution -- SB 1308 and 1309 -- have been pulled from the agenda ... More >>

Russell Pearce Wants To Rig Redistricting (Surprise, Surprise)

Pearce wants to meddle with the IRC for his own selfish political endsArizona's Independent Redistricting Commission won't be independent if state Senate President-elect Russell Pearce has anything to do with it.Already, Pearce, with the assistance of state House Speaker Kirk Adams, has effectively ... More >>

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 >>

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 >>

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 >>

Clean Elections Law Deemed Constitutional by 9th Circuit; Goldwater Institute Attorneys Expect Supreme Court to Intervene

www.firstfriday.com​Arizona's controversial Clean Elections Law got a new lease on life Friday when the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a ruling of the U.S. District Court in Phoenix, which found the law to be unconstitutional.The three-judge panel ruled unanimously that the law does ... 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 >>

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 >>

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 >>

Feedback from the Issue of Thursday, December 24, 2009

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 >>

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?

Banks Suing Governor over Reversal of Controversial "Anti-Deficiency" Law

Remember when we wrote about a bill that could financially devastate homeowners facing foreclosure? Remember when they reversed the bill? Well, it might just be back. Last Monday, the American Bankers Association -- which represents more than 70 banks in the state -- filed a lawsuit with the Arizo ... More >>

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 >>

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 >>

Free the Fonz! Fronzo West Jailed for Telling Authorities "Fuck the Police" (w/Update)

Why are cops afraid of The Fonz? A combination of camcorder and freedom of speech. Phoenix civil liberties activist Fronzo West is currently doing time in the Maricopa County jail for exercising his freedom of speech rights as enshrined in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Fo ... More >>

ACLU Says School District Agreed to Permit Student to Wear Gay-Pride Accessory; District Says Wristband Ban Never Existed

The Peoria Unified School District has agreed "it will no longer prevent" a 14-year-old student from wearing a gay-pride wristband, the ACLU says today. The district, however, says it never agreed to any such thing -- because the student was never disallowed from wearing the accessory ... 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 >>

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 >>

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 >>

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 >>

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

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

Seven Straight Nights for Equal Rights '08

Flushing Them Out

Joe Arpaio and Andrew Thomas are teaching the rest of the nation how to terrorize illegal immigrants

Cyberspace Invaders

County law enforcement's seeking more and more Web site information to mount investigations against private citizens

New Times Sues County and Special Prosecutor

Letters From the Issue of Thursday, April 19, 2007

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?

Peacenik Nazis

Radical right capitalizes on September 11 fears

Closed Door Policy

A Chilean national's struggle against deportation raises fundamental questions about the constitutional rights of immigrants

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

DISAPPEARING ACTS

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