Justice Dept. Asked To Investigate Arpaio

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has been an embarrassment to Arizona and the entire Southwest for several years now. He has ignored established legal procedures in an attempt to gain publicity and notoriety. He is famous for housing inmates in tents in the Arizona heat, making them wear pink clothing and feeding them a "loaf" made up of the day's menu all mixed together.

Finally, it looks like someone is trying to rein him in. The Mayor of Phoenix, Phil Gordon, has asked the United States Justice Department to investigate the sheriff. He wants to know if the sheriff has violated any civil rights laws in his very public crackdown on illegal immigrants.

Gordon is joined in this belief by the Arizona Ecumenical Council, the American Jewish Committee and the Anti-Defamation League. They say the sheriff's patrols have "evoked a police state atmosphere" resulting in "detainment on the basis of a racial profile and dehumanization of innocent people".

To be blunt, he is using racial profiling against Hispanics, so he can make himself look good by catching some undocumented immigrants. Arpaio claims he does not use racial profiling, but I don't know what else you could call it. His high-profile patrols only target Hispanic neighborhoods. How many innocent Hispanic citizens does he harass to get the few "illegals" he arrests?

I hope the Justice Department does investigate Arpaio's methods. Sheriffs have a lot of power in our system, but even they must obey the laws and rules. It is against the law to racially profile.

Hispanic citizens should have the same rights as other American citizens. They should not be profiled and hassled (even if subsequently released) just because they are Hispanic.