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 provision in state Senator Russell Pearce’s bigot bill SB 1070/HB 2632, which they call a…
What an embarrassing day for the Republican leadership in the state House. Though House GOPers were prepared this afternoon to ram through state Senator Russell Pearce’s anti-Hispanic apartheid bill SB 1070/HB 2632, to the surprise of almost everyone in the chamber, its House sponsor Rep. David Gowan suddenly moved that…
There’s something particularly obscene about the fact that state Senator Russell Pearce’s bigoted, anti-immigrant legislation SB 1070/HB 2632 will be heard today on the House floor, falling, as the date does, on St. Patrick’s Day.Because before nativist hatemongers had Mexican immigrants to kick around, there were the Irish. Fleeing poverty,…
Maybe Sheriff Joe figures that if he runs for Governor of Arizona, the federal grand jury now investigating him won’t indict him. Could that be why he keeps playing up the drama of a possible candidacy for Governor of Arizona? You know, like in his latest Tweet, where he states…
Not all of the water from all of the jugs placed in the desert by activists from groups like No More Deaths can wipe clean the blood of migrants from President Barack Obama’s hands.What other conclusion can be drawn from the news from Tucson advocacy group Derechos Humanos that the…
As we predicted, it would take an army to keep an old camera-hound like Sheriff Joe Arpaio from a network television camera in his county, and last night’s episode of Police Women of Maricopa County proved exactly that. Joe made a cameo at the end of last night’s show — for…
During this past Wednesday’s rally against state Senator Russell Pearce’s new apartheid-like bill SB 1070/HB 2632, I remained with the mass of the protesters, while a small contingent of demonstration leaders went into the Capitol’s Executive Tower and up to the 9th Floor to try and meet with Governor Jan…
Inspired in part by New Times’ March 19, 2009 cover art for the feature “Are Your Papers in Order?” by Village Voice Media Executive Editor Michael Lacey, Phoenix muralist Francisco Garcia first painted an image on canvas based on that ski-masked, gun-pointing MCSO deputy. That image later became part of…
Around two hundred protesters and speakers from groups such as Border Action Network, Puente, Maricopa Citizens for Safety and Accountability, Somos America, the ACLU of Arizona, and others rallied at Capitol’s Executive Tower today to demand that Governor Jan Brewer veto state Senator Russell Pearce’s bill SB 1070/HB 2632. The…
The ACLU of Arizona has issued a blunt analysis of state Senator Russell Pearce’s SB 1070/HB 2632, which gives the brass tacks on why and how the bill is unconstitutional and the impact of the legislation. For those unfamiliar with Pearce’s new anti-immigrant bill, it offers a good overview, and for…
The Bishops of the Arizona Catholic Conference, which includes the Dioceses of Phoenix, Tucson, and Gallup, New Mexico, issued a statement today criticizing state Senator Russell Pearce’s mirror anti-immigrant measures HB 2632 and SB 1070, urging that they be yanked from consideration.In a message signed by Phoenix Bishop Thomas Olmsted, Tucson Bishop Gerald Kicanas…
In yesterday’s paper, I read with great amusement the desperate cries of state Rep. Kyrsten Sinema and her fellow Dems, urging Hispanics to participate in the U.S. Census this year. During a Friday news conference, Sinema and Phoenix City Councilman Michael Nowakowski assured the undocumented in particular that the info collected…
A Maricopa County sheriff’s commander attempted to seize nearly two years’ worth of Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office e-mails from the county IT department Friday — saying the e-mails were archived without “the knowledge, consent, or appropriate clearances” from the Sheriff’s Office. But county officials refused to turn over the archived e-mails…
File this under the header, “When the cat’s away…” Sheriff Joe’s office issued a press release today promising a new anti-immigrant sweep within the next two weeks. That message comes one day after Phoenix civil rights leader Sal Reza’s announcement that he and his fellow organizers from the Puente Movement will be caravan-ing to D.C.,…
The FBI is investigating the office of Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas as part of its probe into abuse of power by Sheriff Joe Arpaio, the Arizona Republic reported today. The article contains little red meat beyond the headline: The newspaper’s sources “did not specify what investigators are asking. But…
TLC’s newest babe-cop reality show, Police Women of Maricopa County, aired its second episode last night, and if you’re a fan of bad attitudes, blatant disrespect, and an awful use of police resources, the show didn’t disappoint.Let’s get this week’s review started with a look at Kelly Bocardo, whose level…
I’ve been pimping the idea of an anti-Joe Arpaio art show for years, but the local art “scene,” if you want to call it that, has been scared witless of doing something so bold, for fear of being raided by the MCSO.It’s unlikely anything of the kind would occur, of…
It’s always a lovely day down at the Arizona state Capitol, when you run into state Senator Russell Pearce’s chief toady, state Rep. Carl Seel and ask him what it’s like to smooch up to a racist bonehead like Pearce 24-7.Actually, I was there to attend the press conference of…
Journalists are jealous creatures, something akin to Gollum in The Hobbit muttering over their stories like each is the One Ring, afraid some other journo’s about to come along and swipe it. But in covering the area south of the Gila River for my recent cover story “Blood’s Thicker Than Water,”…
The local press’ lead on the recent deposition of MCSO Chief Deputy David Hendershott in the federal racial-profiling lawsuit Melendres vs. Arpaio was Hendershott’s contention that a vast lefty conspiracy is out to get his boss Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Actually, Hendershott had made the same basic claim in previous statements to a…
As my recent cover story “Blood’s Thicker Than Water” dealt, in part, with activist Mike Wilson’s efforts to leave water on the Tohono O’odham Nation for migrants crossing over, I attempted mightily to ask some questions of nation Chairman Ned Norris, Jr. concerning the humanitarian crisis there. I even buttonholed…
Trent gives the bloggers something to harp on, around 6:12 in…Republican Congressman Trent “Foot-in-Mouth” Franks is truly the gift that keeps on giving. The goofy, amiable wingnut from Arizona’s Second Congressional District is known for his hard-right stance on just about everything from abortion to President Obama’s birth certificate, which…
