Court Dismisses Fifth Lawsuit Against Sheriff's Office Over Playing Christmas Music in Jails

The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office announced today that the fifth of six lawsuits filed against the MCSO over its policy of playing Christmas music in the county jails has been dismissed.The lawsuit was filed in January by inmate William Lamb, who felt that being subjected to Christmas songs for 12...

By James King

December 17, 2009

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The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office announced today that the fifth of six lawsuits filed against the MCSO over its policy of playing Christmas music in the county jails has been dismissed.

The lawsuit was filed in January by inmate William Lamb, who felt that being subjected to Christmas songs for 12 hours a day was a violation of his rights. Federal Court Judge Roz Silver felt differently and issued a summary judgment dismissing the case, as well as the $250,000 to which Lamb felt he was entitled.

In a news release, Joe Arpaio issued on Monday, the sheriff smugly announced that he would continue forcing inmates to listen to Christmas music, despite there being six lawsuits filed by inmates claiming their rights were violated by the tunes.

As of Monday, four of the lawsuits had been dismissed, and Arpaio said he "expected" the rest to be tossed, too.

Apparently Arpaio might be right -- after yesterday's ruling, it seems that if you intimidate enough judges with indictments, you can afford to be a judicial fortune-teller.

James King

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