Corydon, Indiana Republicans Host "America's Toughest Sheriff"

The Louisville Courier-Journal reports on Joe Arapio's fundraising visit to Harrison County, Indiana.  In the picture he is shown searching for his heart as he and the local Republican chair say the Pledge of Allegiance.  This amusing account of the Arpaio is from reporter Harold Adams:

'The Arizona sheriff who bills himself as 'America’s Toughest Sheriff' said he was 'a little disappointed' in his visit Saturday night to Harrison County to raise money for local Republican political candidates. 'Wherever I go I have demonstrators. I haven’t had any demonstrators [BL--Yeah, I bet, this is because this area of Indiana was dominated by the KKK in the 1920s],' Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said while meeting with reporters at the First State Office Building in Corydon.

Arpaio, who often speaks around the country, made sure reporters understood how to pronounce his name: 'It’s Ar-pie-o, none of this Ar-pay-o.'

Arpaio began his Corydon visit with a $500-a-person reception at the office of attorney Maryland Austin, which was closed to the media. That was followed by a reception at the office building, where about 250 people paid $120 each to meet and have their picture taken with Arpaio and attend a dinner at St. Joseph Catholic Church, where he was the featured speaker.
Arpaio has received a lot of national attention recently for his hard stance on immigration. He had his deputies check the immigration status of people they think might be illegal aliens long before Arizona passed a controversial state law requiring such checks. The law was slated to take effect last month but a U.S. District Court judge issued a preliminary injunction stopping its most controversial features from being enforced.

The 78-year-old Arpaio, who wore a gold-colored Glock pistol tie tack with his dark suit, proclaimed with a smile that he was under investigation by the U.S. Justice Department for possible racial profiling for his enforcement of immigration laws.

He encountered only admiration at the event.

New Albany resident Sarah Spivey was typical of those who approached Arpaio.

'You are my hero. May I shake your hand?'  Spivey said as she made her way toward the sheriff. 'My sons and I follow your life and history as much as we can.'  Spivey’s friend, Virginia McGuirk, told Arpaio, 'I wish we had a bunch of sheriffs around here like you.'

The present sheriff of Harrison County, Democrat Mike Deatrick, is under indictment for sexual battery and criminal deviate conduct against two sheriff’s department dispatchers. Deatrick has pleaded not guilty. Rod Seelye, the Republican nominee in the November race to replace Deatrick, is one of the candidates who will benefit from the money raised by Arpaio’s appearance.

'I think some of the models that he’s set in Arizona will play well here,'   Seelye said.
Arpaio has long been controversial for his hard attitude toward jail inmates. Among other things, he’s known for housing some jail inmates in tents, starting a female chain gang and making all inmates wear pink underwear.  Seelye declined to endorse any specific policies of the Arizona sheriff, saying only, 'I think he runs a tight ship. … I’m talking about running a very professional law enforcement agency.'"
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These Hoosiers can get themselves a Sheriff like Joe Arpaio--move to Phoenix.  Apparently dumb white folks are needed down there, in force, as an antidote to everyone else with an IQ slightly above simian.

God, Save Arizona!

AZCentral is reporting that former Maricopa County Attorney [like a county prosecutor, but way-scarier,] and current Arizona Attorney General candidate Andrew "Yessir Sheriff Joe!" Thomas planned a full-fledged coup with mass indictments of most Maricopans not named Andrew, Joe, or Lisa.   This story is so preposterous that it is a wonder that it hasn't been made into a video game, maybe an update of whack-a-mole.

Bad Lawyer has covered the extensive adventures of Andrew Thomas and Sheriff Joe, terming their reign of terror, Stalinistic.  But really, words fail when the actual reality exceeds satire.  You can also read quality background coverage at the ABAJournal website and at the Phoenix New Times which is currently  running this report of Sheriff Joe's men run wild.

It's real easy to be cynical about life and law in places like China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, but it isn't much of an exaggeration to find similarities with our Dear Leader Joe and his army of tax-funded lawyers (now, including former Congressman Bob Barr) and armament and other toys bought on the people's credit cards. With outrage after outrage  piling up--is it not a wonderful thing that these clowns are driving immigration politics in the United States? 

Think about this, it's as if Joe McCarthy and Roy Cohn were put in charge of immigration policy in America.  But that is exactly what's happening, Governor Jan Brewer and the Arizona legislature are dancing to the political tune whistled by Joe Arpaio--and, this song is the mainstay of the immigration platform of one or two American political parties.  I console myself with the firm conviction that when the music is over, there are going to be a lot of politicians running around looking for missing chairs.  There will come a time in this country where we look back at the anti-immigration hysteria driven by these political lizards in Arizona and politicians who happily associate themselves now with these figures and the sentiments that they represent are going to be embarrassed and will try to deny, that they ever were associated with these xenophobic ideals.

The Arizona Immigration Law Preliminary Injuction-Federal Preemption

This little Blawg is fortunate to have a number of readers who are not lawyers, and even a few who are not US citizens.  The Bad Lawyer is grateful to anyone, even the critics who read and comment.

As I said many times I am not interested in covering or particularly remarking on the "Big Story" whatever that is--and, yet aspects of the "Big Story" du jour, remind me of experiences from my career.  So yesterday a U.S. District Court Judge, Susan Bolton, issued an order granting a preliminary injunction barring the essential elements of an anti-immigration law, Arizona SB 1070 the“Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act,” from taking effect.

I believe that it is real easy to misunderstand this story from the perspective of a non-lawyer or someone living outside of the United States so I thought I would offer a bit of insight.  On a very superficial level this story is about xenophobia, and racism versus tough immigration law enforcement and the exasperation of a border state with overburdened social and law enforcement resources.  It is naive to believe that Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and California are not bearing the brunt of a terrible drug war along their southern borders. Nonetheless, Arizona's SB 1070 was predictably prevented from going into effect. 

The primary reason SB 1070 was prevented from going into effect was because Judge Bolton made a determination that on the merits, the federal government would prevail in its case challenging the law based on the doctrine of "federal preemption."  What is federal preemption?  In its simplest terms, it is the constitutional provision that says in certain areas federal jurisdiction to make and enforce law trumps state jurisdiction to make and enforce laws.  There are specific areas of international relations, constitutional protections of individual liberties, and a requirement for uniform enforcement of police powers across borders by the national government that supersede the interest of any given state.  State laws in conflict with federal law are invalid.

While the Arizona anti-immigration enactment obviously impacts international relations and federal immigration law--the federal preemption doctrine bumps into many mundane areas of practice: medical malpractice, health insurance, "diverse corporate citizenship", and discrimination claims.  In my sordid career I filed half a dozen state court actions that were "removed" to federal court under claimed "preemption."  For a lawyer comfortable in state court, being "removed" to federal court can signal a disaster, because the rules of federal court and the sanctions for the unaccustomed practitioner are a minefield.  Defense attorneys count on "preemption" as a procedural defense for the unwary plaintiff's counsel.  This tactic is particularly effective for the young solo lawyer lacking a network of colleagues and strategic alliances to enable him or her to cope with this maneuver. 

U.S. District Court is a frightening and unyielding place to pursue a civil lawsuit unless you the young lawyer are fully on top of your federal practice skill set, and are sufficiently disciplined to meet all deadlines and filing requirements of both the FRCP (federal rules of civil procedure) and the local rules.  Most of the lawyers I know in OurTown have colorful stories of dealing with the now late-Judge John EgoManiac, who vaguely resembled a cross between Aristotle Onasis and Mr. Clean.  The unwary young attorney who filed a federal lawsuit and or was "removed" to federal court and ended up in his Honor's vast chambers could justifiably feel like a meal in the lion's den. 

Years ago, the Blond Super Lawyer wanted to adopt a child and we visited an adoption attorney's office to discuss a "targeted adoption."  When we sat down in this wonderful young attorney's office we noticed that she had beverage coasters that had Judge EgoManiac's picture in the area where your wet beverage glass was placed.  It was her creative response to being having had the experience of being held hostage in his chambers with orders "to bring [her] toothbrush," until she dismissed a lawsuit she filed that was pending in his courtroom.  Nearly every lawyer of a certain age in OurTown has similar stories of this strange old monomaniacal  Judge. 

From the outsider's perspective American law can seem a crazy patchwork, that's because . . . it is.