The High Cost of 'Political" States Attorney General

Lawsuits filed over the anti-abortion former Attorney General Phil Kline's administration are costing the state of Kansas nearly three-quarter million dollars and counting.  Here is the report from yesterday's Wichita Eagle:

"Lawsuits filed against the administrations of Phill Kline while he served as attorney general and Johnson County district attorney have cost the state of Kansas $748,659 in legal fees and expenses.

The Topeka Capital Journal reported Monday that the total includes nearly $220,000 through mid-February to defend Kline's Johnson County District Attorney's administration from a lawsuit alleging sexual discrimination. Senior prosecutor Jacqie Spradling alleged that she was fired from the office in retaliation for her complaints of sexual discrimination.

The Spradling case cost the $219,172 in fees and expenses, according to records from the attorney general's office obtained by the Capital-Journal through an open records request.

Other legal fees paid by the state to defend Kline administrations include $403,528 in an ongoing ethics case before the Board for Discipline of Attorneys and $125,959 to defend Kline aides Eric Rucker and Stephen Maxwell in their ethics cases. [ . . . ]

A disciplinary panel heard testimony for eight days in February and March tied to Kline's handling of investigations of abortion providers in Kansas. A four-day hearing will start on July 19 on the second count, in which the disciplinary administrator's office alleges Kline misled a Johnson County grand jury investigating an abortion clinic. The ethics panel won't decide either allegation until the entire case is over.

Kline currently is a visiting professor of law at the Liberty University law school in Lynchburg, Va."
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The money spent to provide a defense to Kline and his rightwing cronies is "pennies" compared to what Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas is costing Phoenix taxpayers.  But, hey, it's Kansas and they aren't used to ponying up the big bucks to pay for the antics of a "political" guy like Kline.  That's why Kansas voted Kline out of office in a landslide after one term.  At the link, Wikipedia's profile of Kline's "brilliant" career.

The Arizona Republic's Robert Robb on What Arpaio Cost the Taxpayers

Yesterday, I brought you the story of Andrew Thomas' shameless shakedown of the Maricopa taxpayers for funds to pay for his defense against ethics charges; today I bring you a link to the Arizona Republic's outraged columnist Robert Robb on Sheriff Joe Arpaio's role in what Robb terms, the Maricopa County "cesspool."  Prompting Robb's May 11th column was the release of the independent investigation conducted by the Pinal County Sheriff's office. 

AZCentral.com's links to the Pinal County investigation.  Mind-blowing.  But hey, it's worth it to have America's Toughest Sheriff working for you, right?

Is Maricopa County Nuts? Consider the Evidence

According to a report at AZCentral, Maricopa County, AZ's Board of Supervisors is considering allocating more dough to former County Attorney Andrew Thomas to defend himself over ethics allegations thus calling into question their collective sanity. 

Thomas, (Sheriff Joe Arpaio's legal water carrier) spent nearly all of the $100,000 previously budgeted to him to pay for his defense.  This astounding story is by Yvonne Wingett Sanchez (<---hmmmmm, new married name?) which follows in excerpt:

"Former Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas has spent a large portion of $100,000 in public funds earmarked for his defense against a State Bar of Arizona ethics complaint, prompting discussion among county officials about whether to allocate more. Public records show Thomas has spent about $86,000, and no hearing date has yet been set.

[Former County Attorney Thomas] was [ . . . ] charged with multiple ethics violations after a lengthy investigation into his political and legal fights with the county Board of Supervisors, judges and other officials. The state Bar, which licenses and polices attorneys, accused Thomas and two former deputies of having conflicts of interest and filing criminal and civil cases without probable cause or sufficient evidence.

Days after Thomas was charged, the county Board of Supervisors approved a $100,000 budget to defend him against the charges despite its sharp political and legal differences with him. [ . . . ]  Now that Thomas has nearly exhausted the amount set in the initial budget, the Board of Supervisors is unsure how to proceed.
[ . . . ] Don Wilson, Thomas' attorney, said his client 'is entitled to a meaningful defense, and we remain hopeful the board will do the right thing.'
'As one person that witnessed his offensive behavior so directly, it makes it hard to give him anything,' [according to the Board of Supervisor Chair.]  'I don't know how he can defend his actions. That being said, we defend the professional licenses of a number of people. You'll never be able to capture my disdain for doing this.'

County officials said it is unclear if the county is legally obligated to continue paying for Thomas' representation given the Bar investigation that found he acted unethically.  But Jerry Cobb, a spokesman for Montgomery, said the office has historically provided defense for attorneys facing disciplinary hearings."
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Completely outrageous!  This lawyer conceived and participated in the ransacking of Maricopa County's coffers to fund baseless political prosecutions at the behest of his dark master, Joe Arpaio.  Thomas' actions were so offensive that the notion that the taxpayers are on the hook to defend his license defiess common sense.  Thomas quit the Maricopa County post, ostensibly, to run for Arizona Attorney General.  He lost.

What a sweet deal, you the lawyer commit unethical acts prohibited by your profession and oath, but the taxpayers will pony up to defend you!  Is that nuts?

So What's Sheriff Joe Been Up To?

One of the many threads I lost track of during my 5 month-sabbatical was the Maricopa County follies. I see that Sheriff Joe continues despite shocking revelations of financial malfeasance, misfeasance and outright fraud, and his standard craziness--his brilliant crime fighting with a new Mugshot Contest.  This is William Hermans's AZCentral.com's report on Arpaio's fun new law enforcement game:

"Maricopa County's Joe Arpaio may be 'America's Toughest Sheriff,' but he's clearly a fun guy.  First he put inmates into pink underwear, then into striped jail suits like the Beagle Boys. Then he put dogs into cooled jail cells and humans into tents in the heat. And he fed inmates green bologna.

Now the sheriff is letting everyone in on the fun. Arpaio's office says the public can go to the Maricopa County Jails website, 'peruse all the mug shots of the people arrested each day,' and choose a favorite. The most popular mug among mugs will be 'Mug Shot of the Day.'  One day it's a murder suspect, the next a drug suspect, and the next a child-molestation suspect.  Arpaio says there's a serious side to it: 'More eyes on arrestees may result in more leads to criminal investigators.'

Similar schemes in the past have met with mixed results. Federal courts rejected Arpaio's attempt to stream video of inmates, but the sheriff maintains inmate mug shots online."
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And Andrew Thomas?  How's the wanna be attorney general of Arizona doing?

Prosecutions Worth Writing on Toilet Paper!

Former Maricopa County attorney, Andrew Thomas (pic), pursued prosecutions and lawsuits against the political opponents of his boss, um, Sheriff Joe Arpaio (pic), that senior prosecutors in his office said were worthy to have been written on toilet paper according to emails and memos obtained by the Arizona Republic.  Arpaio (America's toughest Sheriff) and his Boy Andy are currently under federal and state investigation following a reign of Stalinist terror targeting local public officials and judges--which certain Tea Party activists profess to want to take national, if Arpaio's popularity on the campaign circuits of various states is any indication.  Here's a short excerpt from Yvonne Wingett and Michael Kiefer's story at AZCentral, this AM:

"Top prosecutors in the Maricopa County Attorney's Office had repeatedly cautioned Andrew Thomas over the last year and a half against filing criminal charges and a racketeering suit against judges and county officials.  But according to detailed interviews and e-mails gathered for an administrative investigation of a prosecutor at the center of those cases, Thomas ignored the advice and instead bypassed experienced prosecutors to assign the cases to attorneys who would prosecute them.

Lawyers in and out of the County Attorney's Office told Thomas that he did not have sufficient evidence. One prosecutor later said he was shocked the agency had filed a complaint against a judge. Another told Thomas the racketeering suit was so bad, it should have been written on toilet paper. Supervising prosecutors warned Thomas that lawyers he assigned to handle the cases were too inexperienced.

Thomas pursued the cases in spite of the warnings; all were later withdrawn or dismissed."
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There are so many facets to this incredible tale of public abuse and private profiteering.  The story has been continuously featured on Bad Lawyer since the inception (read the archives) of the blawg--but, truth be told I have barely scratched the service of the sickness and depravity of these so-called "public officials." 

If you ever wondered if the satirical and prophetic cautionary notes of Orwell in Animal Farm and 1984 were overblown, witness Maricopa County, Arizona.  Arizona is just one of the places in the US where this sort of wholesale abuse of power and corruption in the name of "law and order," is taking place.  Thomas and Arpaio proved that you could rarely disappoint the voters by oppressing the dispossessed and immigrant classes.  Arpaio and Thomas got away with discarding individual constitutional rights, spending the tax payers' dime like drunken sailors on all manner of toys, travel and armament--but, they stepped over the line with the frivolous indictments and federal racketeering lawsuits of other elected public officials and Maricopa County judges.

As I said when Thomas filed the RICO lawsuit, ill-advisedly--Thomas and Arpaio's days are numbered.  You don't file frivolous lawsuits in federal court and rationally expect that you will get away unscathed.  The RICO action was summarily dismissed.  The arrogance of Arpaio and Thomas has proven to be their downfall.  Thomas lost his bid to win the Republican nomination for Arizona Attorney General to a Republican lawyer who was barred from the securites industry for ethics violations.  How bad must the voters think you are--to choose your opponent with this kind of history over you? 

False Allegations of Crimes Made By Arpaio and Thomas--US Attorney Confrims

OK, you can read the Bad Lawyer archive of Maricopa County, Arizona stories to get the context if you haven't been following this carnival. 

Sheriff Joe Arpaio (America's Toughest Sheriff) and his boy Andy, (former Maricopa County Attorney, Andrew Thomas') engaged in a Stalinistic terror campaign to indict and prosecute all other elected Maricopa County officials not-named-Arpaio-or-Thomas--but, as we suspected all of the charges, indictments, and arrests were false.   Reporters Yvonne Wingett and JJ Hensley at AZCentral relate and supplying links to the US Attorney's summary of his investigation of cases Arapaio and Thomas forwarded to the feds for followup, after numerous dismissals by Arizona courts.  The conclusion by the feds, no evidence of any crimes by any of the Maricopa officials persecuted by Arpaio and Thomas.  

Here's the article:

"There is no evidence of federal crimes by county officials in material forwarded to federal prosecutors by Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and former County Attorney Andrew Thomas, U.S. Attorney for Arizona Dennis Burke says.  Last March, Arpaio and Thomas forwarded nine cases of suspected county corruption to the U.S. Department of Justice's Public Integrity Section for review. Though an attorney working on behalf of Arpaio and Thomas said federal officials promised to review the material, a Justice Department section chief later chastised him for giving the impression that federal agents would likely take on the investigations.

The cases instead were sent to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Phoenix for review.

'Our thorough review has shown that there is a total lack of evidence of the commission of any federal crimes by the individuals listed in the materials,' Burke wrote in a letter to Interim County Attorney Rick Romley. 'Furthermore, in several instances, the evidence was so lacking as to make the theory of liability nearly incomprehensible.'

However, Burke recommended the matters be reviewed for any potential violations of state statutes. Romley, who cannot review the matters because of conflicts of interest, has asked the Navajo County Attorney's Office to perform that task.

Robert Driscoll, an Arpaio attorney, said Arpaio and Thomas filed a wide-ranging racketeering suit after failed attempts to get an outside prosecutor to review their allegations against other county officials. When the racketeering suit was withdrawn, Driscoll said Arpaio and Thomas wanted a prosecutor to review the cases.

'I don't think it would be fair to say that a declination (to prosecute) means there's nothing there,' Driscoll said. 'There's been a review and people are better off than they were at least knowing it's been reviewed.'

The material included Arpaio and Thomas' investigations into the county's project to build a new court tower, and use of public funds to search for listening devices in county offices. Those cases were presented to a grand jury, which determined there was no probable cause that a crime was committed."
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So now you have an overwhelming finding of pure political malevolence by these two clowns, Arpaio and Thomas.  Andrew Thomas was soundly defeated in a bid to be the Republican nominee for the position of Arizona attorney general and a bar investigation is underway.

Arpaio's profligate spending on guns and lawyers, including Big Law--ended when the County Supervisors he and Thomas repeatedly and unsuccessfully indicted recently regained control of the county spending authority.  And Arpaio's Sheriff's department is itself on the verge of collapse in the face of corruption investigations and denunciations from former trusted associates. 

You gotta give it up for Sheriff Joe, he is the darling of the Tea Party.  He's on the road raising money for all the tin foil hat types, that is until he ends up in U.S. District Court. 

But Arpaio's victims: county officials who were arrested, smeared and indicted; and, the taxpayers of Maricpa County, they just keep paying.

Curious Case of Constance Pinson Heard Candidate for DeKalb County Prosecutor

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has the remarkable account of the local lawyer with serious prior disciplinary history who is a serious candidate to become the Dekalb County (Georgia) prosecutor.  As the Bad Lawyer I know I have a lot to offer the legal profession even from my lowly perch as a blawger, but run for public office?  I think not.  Then again, there's Yale Law graduate, Joe Miller, who is about aa unethical a character to come down the pike in a long time--who might just become a U.S. Senator from Alaska, of course that's Alaska.  Oh, and then there's: Sen. David Vitter, Sen. John Ensign, Sen . . . I digress, here's AJC reporter Megan Mattecucci's story:

"One of DeKalb County’s two candidates for district attorney has been suspended twice by the State Bar of Georgia.  Decatur attorney Constance Pinson Heard (pic) is running against former DeKalb Solicitor-General Robert James.  The two are competing for the seat vacated by Gwen Keyes Fleming, who resigned last month to become a regional administrator with the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

Records obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution show Heard was suspended twice for violating State Bar standards. James has no complaints with the Bar, according to its records.  The state Supreme Court found Heard guilty of three Bar standards: dishonesty and fraud; willful abandonment to the detriment of her clients; and commingling clients’ funds with her own.

The director of the National Institute for Teaching Ethics & Professionalism, who is not involved in the DeKalb race, said he would be concerned about any lawyer who violated those specific standards.  'I have no hesitation in saying that someone who has been suspended for violating [these standards] should not be a candidate for district attorney.' said Clark D. Cunningham, who also teaches law and ethics at the Georgia State University College of Law.

According to court records, Heard accepted retainer funds from clients for divorces but never filed anything in court on their behalf or represented them.

In 1998, she admitted to violating the Bar standards and agreed to a six-month suspension. She subsequently was suspended again in 2002 and ordered to return the money to her clients, court records show.  For both complaints, Heard failed to respond to the Bar’s notices, according to court records.

Heard said the complaints occurred when she was suffering from depression, but she declined to talk about the specifics of her condition.  'That was medical. I’ve never done anything criminal,'  she told the AJC on Tuesday.  Heard said she stopped practicing from 1998 to 2002 and was treated. The Supreme Court reinstated her in 2002 after completing a mental evaluation, court records show.

'I’ve been practicing successfully since then,' she said. 'I’m doing quite OK.'

But Cunningham said those Bar standards, which are set by the Supreme Court, are some of the most important rules that govern lawyers.  The three standards Heard was cited for are all punishable by disbarment or suspension -- the highest punishments.

'If the Supreme Court suspended a lawyer from practice, that means the court did not find any circumstances that excused the misconduct,' Cunningham said.

Both candidates said they hope voters make a decision based on their records.  'My record speaks for itself. Her record speaks, including multiple suspensions, speaks for itself,' said James, who resigned as solicitor-general last month to qualify for the race.  Heard, 63, touts 15 years of working in private practice. Before becoming a lawyer, she taught in Atlanta public schools and at what is now Georgia Perimeter College.

James, 38, has spent his entire 11 years practicing as a prosecutor, including working with the DeKalb and Rockdale County district attorney's offices. In DeKalb , he served as the special prosecutor for crimes against children. In 2006, he was elected solicitor-general.

Both candidates said they are focused on public corruption, along with making DeKalb safer.  Fighting public corruption is one of the reasons its is essential that the right candidate for district attorney win, officials said.

'There is no public official in the U.S. with more discretionary power than a district attorney or the equivalent position in the federal government. For example, a decision not to prosecute is not reviewable by any court or higher official,' Cunningham said. 'Such incredible power should only be given to persons who exemplify the utmost in integrity and ethics.'"
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Some of the finest, most profound, and probably ethical people, I know, are active in recovery and professional mental health programming.  Could you reasonably expect that some of us might be able to one day, honorably serve in positions of trust and public service after recovery?  Sure.  Might one of us prove to be more ethical and more honest than someone who has not experienced what we have experienced--you betcha! 

Examples of this paradox work themselves out around the country all the time, witness, New York's Eliot Spitzer, Maricopa County;s Andrew Thomas, Cuyahoga County's William Mason--all paragons of piety and ethics.  All gentlemen who were all quick to see the moat in the eye of others but blind to their visual defects. 

Now objectively, does the idea of a lawyer who has been disciplined multiple times with a history of depression sound like a good candidate for prosecutor?  No.

Does Constance Pinson Heard sound pretty clueless?  Yes.

"Use Creative Writing!"

The Deputy County Attorney who was singularly most instrumental in Sheriff Joe Arpaio is being fired according to the Arizona Republic.  According to reporters Yvonne Wingett and Michael Kieffer Lisa Aubuchon (pic, lwft) received the letter required under Arizona law, preliminary to her discharge as a "merit" employee:

"A controversial prosecutor faces imminent firing after a five-month inquiry into her role in filing criminal charges and a civil suit against judges and county officials on behalf of then-Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas.   The Arizona Republic has learned Deputy County Attorney Lisa Aubuchon was sent a 'pre-termination letter last week, an initial step in the firing process.

Aubuchon has been on paid administrative leave since April, when Thomas resigned as county attorney to make a failed run for Arizona attorney general.   Interim County Attorney Rick Romley fired two high-ranking prosecutors from Thomas' tenure when he took office. The other prosecutors served at the pleasure of the county attorney. Aubuchon, however, was protected as a 'merit' employee and could be fired only for cause. Romley ordered an internal investigation into her conduct.

Aubuchon has until today to respond to facts stated in the pre-termination letter. The office would not reveal those details.   Aubuchon is entitled to a meeting with top officials within the County Attorney's Office to plead her case. Barring last-minute evidence, she likely will be fired.

Aubuchon has worked in the County Attorney's Office since 1996 and was head of the office's charging division under Thomas. In that capacity, she determined if and when criminal charges would be filed. Aubuchon generally was regarded as the go-to lawyer in the political-corruption cases pursued by Thomas, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and Arpaio's chief deputy, David Hendershott. All of those cases were dropped or dismissed, and in at least one case, a grand jury refused to hand up indictments and ordered Aubuchon to 'end the inquiry.'

Calls to Aubuchon and her attorney went unanswered Thursday.

In past conversations with The Republic, Aubuchon asserted she had done nothing wrong, saying, 'I would never file anything for a political purpose.'

The County Attorney's Office would not comment on its investigative findings leading to the pre-termination letter, but Aubuchon has been involved in numerous recent legal battles:

• She was the prosecutor who obtained indictments against County Supervisors Mary Rose Wilcox and Don Stapley. The Wilcox case, regarding financial transactions, was thrown out by a judge who ruled that it was politically motivated. One Stapley case, also regarding financial issues, was subsequently dropped. Another was thrown out on technicalities, and during an appeal, a special prosecutor discovered that many of the charges had been filed after the statute of limitations had expired.

Aubuchon also tried to obtain indictments against Superior Court judges and other county employees but was rebuffed by a county grand jury. And, at the request of Thomas and Arpaio, she authored a civil-racketeering lawsuit against county officials, Superior Court judges and private attorneys, alleging a conspiracy to keep Thomas from investigating the supervisors and a $340 million court building under construction. The suit was dropped.

• Along with Arpaio, Thomas and Hendershott, she is being investigated by the U.S. Justice Department for alleged abuse of power. The State Bar of Arizona also is looking into possible unethical conduct by Aubuchon.
• Last month, The Republic learned that Aubuchon's attorneys in the Bar investigation had hired private investigators to research and follow an out-of-state investigator who was in Arizona conducting the Bar inquiry.
• Aubuchon has filed a $10 million notice of claim against the county, alleging that county officials smeared her reputation and destroyed her career. 

New details about Aubuchon's actions emerged this week in an internal Sheriff's Office memo in which Deputy Chief Frank Munnell asked that Hendershott be placed on leave and investigated for alleged misconduct, mismanagement and criminal activity.

Munnell alleges in the 63-page memo that Aubuchon told sheriff's investigators to use 'creative writing' to write a search warrant allowing them to search the offices of all five members of the county Board of Supervisors.  Investigators were incredulous, Munnell wrote, and one lieutenant pointed to each of his subordinates and said if he  'found out that any one of them used creative writing, or wrote a warrant without the facts, he would fire them.'

Munnell alleged that during that meeting, Aubuchon pulled out a previously written search warrant used for a case against County Supervisor Don Stapley.  The lieutenant countered that the warrant looked like a 'press release and not a valid search warrant.'  Aubuchon's response, alleged Munnell, was, 'Why don't you just do good police work? " Munnell wrote, 'The most shocking moment of that meeting took place when Aubuchon, who is supposed to be an impartial and ethical prosecutor, stated during the meeting, to the effect that if they couldn't get charges on Stapley, that he would be tried in the media.  The result of this contentious meeting was . . . the sheriff's personnel present in the meeting refused to author a warrant to search the offices of all the members of the Board of Supervisors,' Munnell wrote.

Munnell's memo also confirmed previous reports that Hendershott in April tried to create a position within the Sheriff's Office for Aubuchon."
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There are almost always public prosecutors like Aubuchon.  Lawyers who use their license as cudgels to achieve ends regardless of the means.  I think of he California prosecutor Benjamin Thomas Field who received a 5 year license suspension for comparable conduct.  Young lawyers and young judges can have too much power, it can poison egos and pervert justice.

When a lawyer is blessed to have a position of public trust, the power to convene grand juries, obtain warrants, and have citizens arrested and jailed, it's good to exercise these powers with wisdom; otherwise find another line of work.  Creative writing?

Meanwhile In Maricopa County, A Train's A Comin'

Things appear to be (further) crumbling on the floor of the Justice Center where Sheriff Joe ran/runs his regime of terror.  Chief Deputy David Hendershott (pic, right) is being called out by one of the Sheriff's other chief loyalists.  The story and its follow-up are by reporters Yvonne Wingett and JJ Hensley, this morning's report brings us news that Sheriff Joe is finally taking action against his closest allies,--because his hand is being forced by other Arpaio loyalists who can apparently read the writing on the wall:

"The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office has placed two of Sheriff Joe Arpaio's top aides on administrative leave after they and another aide were accused of misconduct and mismanagement.  The move comes as Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu determines the merits of the allegations against them.  The deputy chief who wrote a memo containing explosive allegations that triggered the inquiry said Thursday that he supports the sheriff's decision to have Babeu review the matter.

A spokesman for the Pinal County sheriff said Babeu has not yet reviewed the 63-page memo, which alleges widespread wrongdoing by Chief Deputy David Hendershott and others.  The memorandum, authored by Deputy Chief Frank Munnell, describes an oppressive work environment in which Hendershott is alleged to have threatened [yestereday's story, at the link, reports that Chief Deputy Hendershott threatened to "machinegun" other sheriff's deputies who balked at serving harassing summons on elected County officials in the Stalinsist raids of last year] and [Hendershott] retaliated against subordinates who questioned him and browbeat others into refusing to cooperate with federal and state investigations into the Sheriff's Office. Hendershott is the office's second-in-command and runs the sheriff's day-to-day operations.

Assistant Chief Deputy Munnell asked Arpaio to place Hendershott, Deputy Chief Larry Black and Capt. Joel Fox on administrative leave pending an independent investigation by the Arizona Department of Public Safety. Black and Fox were placed on leave with pay Thursday. Hendershott remains on medical leave and is expected to return in several weeks.

Rather than involve the DPS, Arpaio sent the memo to Babeu, a political ally, for review.

Munnell, one of a group of high-ranking officers subordinate to Hendershott, on Thursday spoke briefly about his memo, telling The Arizona Republic he was pleased with Arpaio's decision.

'I believe a fair and appropriate and impartial investigation will take place, and I'm going to let it take its course,' Munnell said. [ . . . ]

[Chief Deputy] Hendershott [long Arpaio's right hand man] makes $165,000 a year, which does not include retirement earnings. Fox makes $103,000 and Black $80,000.  [ . . .]

[Assistant Deputy] Munnell's memo said Hendershott's conduct jeopardizes the stability of one of the largest sheriff's agencies in the nation. He alleges Hendershott pressured subordinates on a corruption task force to write a questionable search warrant and then repeatedly threatened that he would "machine gun" them if they refused. Munnell also asserts that Hendershott retaliated against those who acted against him and protected those who remained loyal.

The memo was turned over to the FBI and U.S. Department of Justice, which for nine months have presented evidence before a federal grand jury. The agencies are working together on an abuse-of-power inquiry into Arpaio, former County Attorney Andrew Thomas and others in their agencies.

On Thursday, The Republic obtained the personnel files of the three longtime sheriff's officials named in the memo from both Arpaio's office and county human resources.

Munnell's memo alleges years of behavior that ranges from inappropriate to criminal, but a review of the files found the three to be model employees, and they have consistently received marks of  'outstanding' and 'excellent' on annual performance reviews.  Munnell also claims in the memo that Hendershott has favored employees who are shielded and protected by Hendershott from receiving any discipline.' [ . . . ]

If the investigation becomes a criminal matter, the administrative probe is frozen until the criminal investigation is complete. With the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office already the subject of a federal civil-rights investigation and two separate criminal probes at the state and federal level, Pinal County investigators should coordinate with the other agencies, Warriner said.

'The last thing you want to do,'  he said, 'is go in knowing the federal government, the FBI, is already doing an investigation and step in and mess up their case.'"

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There's a pattern here, the Sheriff and his henchmen trammeled the rights of criminals, to near universal acclaim, including book deals, television, and media fame.  Then they trammeled the rights of the the criminally accused, with the same result.  Then they began to trammel the rights of citizens who they wrongfully accused of misdeeds.  They spent the public dollar like it was their own.  When elected officials in charge of the public money objected, the Sheriff and his allies went after the elected officials and the Judges.  In doing so Arpaio, Thomas, Hendershott and their allies sunk into a frenzy of frivolous and insane litigation that is costing Maricopa County millions. 

As we see in OurCounty, and its avatar, Cuyahoga County, Ohio--this sort of thing inevitably leads to widespread corruption which will be prosecuted, and the Federal government is nothing if not thorough and patient.  What will ultimately happen is that the underlying corruption charges will not matter, because the corrupt officials and their minions will commit myriad further crimes of obstruction, and perjury in the service of covering up the underlying criminal behavior.

At the end of the day, Maricopans--read Cleveland.com's county in crisis series to see your fate.  It's coming faster than you can imagine.

Maricopa County Officials Spend $5.6 Million and Counting...Suing One Another, Nice.

The Arizona Republic has finally gotten around to asking the question:  How much did Sheriff Arpaio and his lap dog, Andrew Thomas cost the taxpayers when they falsely arrested, prosecuted and sued other county officials and vice versa?  The answer, $5.6 million and counting.  Here's reporter Yvonnne Wingett's story:

"The vitriolic conflicts among Maricopa County's elected officials have drained at least $5.6 million from the county's coffers over the past two years, according to the latest Arizona Republic analysis of public records. And the costs continue to mount as disputes over money, power, computer systems and public records persist among Sheriff Joe Arpaio, former County Attorney Andrew Thomas and the Board of Supervisors.

Most of the $5.6 million was paid to high-priced private attorneys, and it's not a complete tally.  Invoices continue to arrive that still have to be reviewed before being paid. In some cases, county officials have also held up payments because the bills are incomplete, inaccurate or confusing.   The records provided to The Republic by county officials through public-records requests also appear incomplete in some cases. For example, detailed billings from attorneys who subcontracted other lawyers to represent Arpaio and Thomas were not provided.

The Republic analyzed payments made by Maricopa County from 2008 through August and the County Attorney's Office through June, the most recent available figures.  The Republic has continued to review payments associated with the disputes over the past two years. By March, the county had spent $3.2 million.   The latest review shows that costs have climbed by $2.4 million since then. The increase is mostly because new expenses have come to light and the court case over a criminal-justice database has dragged on.

The expenses reviewed include legal fees to prepare complaints against attorneys, legal fees to represent Arpaio, Thomas and their offices in the federal grand-jury investigation, legal fees to represent the Sheriff's Office on matters involving a subpoena from the state attorney general, and fees associated with an internal investigation into a deputy county attorney.

Barbara Norrander, a political-science professor at the University of Arizona, said the feud damages the public's confidence in the government and casts further suspicion on public officials and their motives.  'And now, people are concerned about government budgets since they're stretched so thin,' she said. 'If they're spending more money on legal cases, that means there are fewer potholes that they can fill.'

The county battles have raged since 2008.

As relationships deteriorated among county officials, they turned to attorneys to fight their battles over budgets, financial records, control of inmate health care, legal representation and computer systems.

Thomas and Arpaio filed several lawsuits against the Board of Supervisors, including a federal civil-racketeering suit against the supervisors, four judges and attorneys who work with the county.   Thomas later dropped that case. [County Attorney Thomas and [Sheriff] Arpaio have lost every case that has been ruled on by the courts.  County Treasurer Charles 'Hos' Hoskins also has battled with the county over budget, staffing and computer matters. Those fights cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in attorney fees and audits.

The board spent $14,600 to sweep offices for illegally placed listening devices. The county and sheriff have spent at least $125,704 on efforts to resolve a U.S. Department of Labor probe into overtime pay for sheriff's detention officers, which was complicated partly because of strained relationships among county officials.

Some of the battles have been resolved by the courts or are on appeal. Other matters are in the early stages, and the fees have just started to rack up.  For example, over four months, the attorney representing Deputy County Attorney Lisa Aubuchon in an investigation initiated by the State Bar of Arizona into possible misconduct already has billed $177,876 for her defense, according to invoices.

The county is responsible for defending Aubuchon, Thomas and others because the allegations listed in the complaints took place during the course of their duties with the county.  County Manager David Smith estimates $5.6 million could have covered the cost of hiring 25 employees over five years, but he pointed out that the payroll would be recurring costs while the legal costs were one-time payments.

'It's nonsense,' Smith said of the costs and the fights.   Commenting on the impact the expenses have had on the Sheriff's Office, Chief Financial Officer Loretta Barkell said, 'It has been challenging meeting all the Sheriff's Office day-to-day operational expenses.'

Some legal costs come directly out of the sheriff's budgets.

The $5.6 million tab does not include the amount of time staff members have worked on the legal cases and other matters. For example, employees from all sides have spent hundreds of hours reviewing financial records and researching cases instead of doing regular job assignments.

The tab also does not include the money paid by county supervisors and others to fight their personal legal battles; nor does it include the amount of money Thomas and Arpaio have paid to investigate the supervisors. Nor does the total cost reflect expenses to represent the sheriff in the U.S. Justice Department's civil-rights investigation into racial-profiling allegations. That investigation is not directly related to disputes with county officials.
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Boy, the taxpayes of Maricopa County sure got what they paid for!

Andrew Thomas Concedes

Maricopa County's own, Andrew Thomas, (Sheriff Joe Arpaio's former legal gunslinger) has conceded the primary contest to his Republican primary opponent, Tom Horne.  Thomas who may well lose his law license labeled Mr. Horne a scam artist based on a history of financial shenanigans and a bankruptcy not disclosed on required state filings.  We'll see how this all plays out; suffice it to say the Arizona Supreme Court appears to be losing its patience for the games being played by Thomas et al.  

Arizona Election Results

AZCentral.com is reporting this morning that the political career of Andrew Thomas, former Maricopa County Attorney and water boy for Sheriff Joe Arpaio, may have come to an end.  As you will recall from the stories on Bad Lawyer, Thomas quit his job mid-term, a-la, Sarah Palin to run for higher office, Attorney General.  Thomas appears to have narrowly lost in his bid for the Republican nomination.  Amazingly, Thomas lost to a local lawyer who ran an investment scheme that went belly-up in college resulting in a bankruptcy that the lawyer subsequently lied about in various filings.  How bad a candidate do you yourself have to be to lose a race for attorney general to a "con artist" which is what Thomas called his opponent, Tom Horne?   If the election results hold, Horne will face democratic challenger Felecia Rotellini in the general election. 

Tellingly, returns from Maricopa County played a significant role in the projected electoral defeat of Thomas.

In a separate story, AZCentral.com is reporting that Sheriff Joe Arpaio who utterly hates interim County Attorney Rick Romley may have played a role in defeating Romley's bid to win election to the the County attorney position by illegally running ads and sending mailers on behalf of Romley's opponent.  The local electoral commission found Arpaio's interference in this election violated election laws as it relates to the mailers Arpaio paid for and distributed.  Romley appears to have lost the race by a wide margin although the defeat may have been attributable to complex and underhanded manipulation of candidacies and of course Arpaio's seemingly bottomless deep pocket. 

We will see how this turns out.  As with all things Arpaio, more shall be revealed.

Arpaio and Thomas Machinations Documented by Release of Grand Jury Transcripts and Other Original Documents

The Arizona Republic provides something you almost never see, the grand jury transcripts (links to the pdf of the original documents are at the link) from Sheriff Joe Arpaio and (former Maricopa County Attorney) Andrew Thosmas' tragi-comic attempt to have their political enemies indicted.  If you check the Bad Lawyer index you will see that Sheriff Joe and and his Boy Andy's machinations have been a special obsession of mine and the Bad Laywer blawg.

Anyone who cares about the law should care about this story--and with this report you see the smoking guns which were released by the interim Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley.  Romley formerly served in the position and came in after the disastrous tenure of Thomas who now thinks Arizonans should elect him Attorney General.  You can watch Romley's press conference at the link.

The story represents for me the sort of wholesale abuse of local power.  This sort of thing  happens in many places around the country but usually beneath the surface.  But not in Maricopa County where Sheriff Joe and Boy Andy operated a full reign of terror.  They trammeled the rights of criminal defendants, immigrants, the poor, their political opponents, lawyers, Judges, and other elected officials. The Maricopa grand jury transcripts which are linked to the story are amazing documents.  The final transcript in particular conclude with grand jurors "refusing" to act any further. 

These original documents provide a rarely seen window on how it is that prosecutors can "indict a ham sandwich." 

If you are at all interested in how folks get "indicted" and how little "indictment" bears on guilt in some situations, here's your proof.  You will rarely see anything like this.  Don't miss this story.  The Arizona Republic and the Phoenix New Times deserve Pulitzer Prizes for their coverage of this story.

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.

CVS Drugstore Manager Indicted on Child Porn Charges

A Phoenix CVS Pharmacy manager has been indicted on child porn charges according to AZCentral.com after images saved under his named at the photo kiosk were detected by a co-worker:

"A Phoenix man was indicted this week on 10 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor stemming from his arrest after child pornography images were found at the Fountain Hills pharmacy where he worked.

Michael Brown (mug shot), 49, was arrested in late June when another manager at the CVS Pharmacy discovered pornographic photographs of minor girls saved to the photo kiosk under Brown's name at the store. Brown also worked as a manager at the store. A search warrant was served to Brown's home and car, where hundreds of photographs and USB drives containing child pornography, child erotica and adult pornography were discovered, a court document said.

A prepared statement from Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley said many of the photographs contain girls who appear to be under 13 years old.

'Children are so trusting and vulnerable and, unfortunately, these traits often make them easy to exploit,'  Romley said in the statement. 'This office takes crimes against children extremely seriously and we will continue to prosecute these cases vigorously.'

Each count of sexual exploitation of a minor is a class 2 felony, and considered a dangerous crime against children, according to the release."
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A little off-topic, here, but as you will recall, Romley is the former Maricopa County attorney and the current Maricopa County attorney having replaced Andrew Thomas who was Sheriff Joe Arpaio.  It's refreshing to see actual crimes being prosecuted in Maricopa County as opposed to local enforcement of federal immigration laws by show sweeps of Hispanic citizens, children, and undocumented residents.

Former Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas: They're Out to Get Me!

Readers of Bad Lawyer know that I think Andrew Thomas (pic) is one very shady character having supplied legal "big guns" to Sheriff Joe Arapio during Arpaio's reign of terror costing the taxpayers of Maricopa County, Az beau coup bucks in damages, lost county services, lost county time and resources, frivolous lawsuits and malicious prosecution of officeholders--ultimately, resulting in the Supreme Court of Az stepping up and appointing a special master to supervise all of the legal activities of Thomas and Arpaio.  As you will recall I predicted on Bad Lawyer that at the end of the day Thomas will lose his license. 

Undaunted, Thomas did such a good job, in his opinion--he wants the voters of Arizona to elect him statewide as Arisona's next attorney general.  Now the Arizona Republic is reporting that Thomas is complaining that the mysterious forces are "conspiring" via a State disciplinary investigation to thwart his ambitions to lead Arizona.  Here's an excerpt from Michael Kiefer's story:

"[T}he chief justice of Arizona ordered an inquiry into Thomas' behavior after a Superior Court judge ruled he acted unethically in his prosecution of Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox. Since then, several other complaints have been lodged against Thomas with the state Bar, including one by an association of defense attorneys. In an interview with The Arizona Republic, Thomas and his former attorney in the matter, Ernest Calderón, alleged that:

• The special investigator appointed by the Arizona Supreme Court was told there would be 'a predetermined result.'
• The investigator, John Gleason, full-time counsel to the Colorado Supreme Court Attorney Regulation Commission, refuses to fully divulge the nature of complaints against Thomas, thus hindering Thomas' ability to respond.
• Calderón was fired by county managers, who were paying his bills, to hinder Thomas' defense.
• The cards were stacked against Thomas from the start. As proof, Calderón noted that Scott Rhodes, an ethics expert, has been retained by interim County Attorney Rick Romley and just won an award from the state Bar. Rhodes was appointed by the high court to investigate Thomas, but he turned down the appointment when Thomas suggested he had conflicts of interest.

Gleason, the state Bar and the Supreme Court all deny any collaboration against Thomas. 'Unequivocally, there is no conspiracy against Andrew Thomas,' said John Phelps, the Bar's chief executive officer. 'Everything we have done is to protect the process and to ensure that Andrew Thomas' rights would be protected.'

The state Bar is a quasi-governmental organization that licenses and polices attorneys in Arizona. Calderón claimed that Gleason has refused to cooperate with Thomas' attorneys, a contention echoed in correspondence to Gleason from Eric Dowell, who remains Thomas' attorney in the Bar matter. A letter sent by Dowell on Monday states that Gleason 'abruptly ended our conversation by slamming down the telephone.'

Calderón and Thomas think it's a conspiracy. "I can only speculate that he came down here and talked to some powers that be and they said, 'You don't understand, we have a predetermined result we need to get to,' " Calderón said.

When reached, Gleason said that he would not respond to the conspiracy claim Gleason denied that he has refused to share with Thomas' attorney the allegations against him. 'How can I possibly investigate allegations against a lawyer if they don't know what has been alleged?' he asked.

Thomas also complained to The Republic that Gleason, a Colorado resident, spent three weeks at the Arizona Biltmore resort while conducting his investigation. Thomas wanted to know who paid for it and why Gleason had stayed at such an expensive resort. Gleason said he obtained a rate of $89 per night and pointed out that he is charging $40 per hour for his services - hundreds of dollars less than the going rate for attorneys.

Jennifer Liewer, a spokeswoman for the Arizona Supreme Court, said, 'John Gleason is a highly experienced and professional discipline investigator. He has regulated Colorado lawyers and judges for more than 22 years for the Colorado Supreme Court. In his extensive years of experience,' she said, 'he knows that, in some cases, lawyers under investigation employ a number of defense tactics including delay and attacking the investigator.'

'He will continue to conduct a fair and impartial investigation, regardless of pressure or attacks from any party involved. However, because rules require confidentially at this point, he will not violate them by responding to any specific issues raised at this time by anyone involved in the matter.'Phelps said Rhodes' consulting work with Romley's office has nothing to do with the Bar. Most of the allegations against Thomas focus on the last two years of his tenure as county attorney, including his prosecutions of county supervisors and Superior Court judges.

Thomas has come under ethical scrutiny before. In spring 2008, several complaints were filed against him involving a contracted attorney who confronted a judge over bail for illegal immigrants, and because of circumstances surrounding the arrests of two New Times editors. Thomas protested unsuccessfully to the Supreme Court to try to stop that investigation. All of the complaints eventually were dismissed."
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As I said before, Thomas is in big trouble, the Arizona Supreme Court should have but an end to Thomas' antics when the Arizona New Times (Maricopa County just paid $40,000 in attorney fees to the New Times last week over some nonsense--when the editors) brought legitimate charges against Thomas previously.  The AZ Supreme Court did not act then and matters became so attenuated that millions of tax dollars have been flushed down the drain trying to maintain the rule of law in one of this Country's biggest metropolitan counties.  I doubt that the Arizona Supreme Court will fail to act this time.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio Loves to Spend the Taxpayers' Money on Attorneys!

AZCentral.com is reporting on the efforts of newly-returned Maricopa County, AZ County Attorney Rick Romley to cut Sheriff Joe Arpaio off of the taxpayer funded spending spree on outside counsel.  This is from JJ Hensley and Yvonne Wingett's article:

"A pair of attorneys tending to high-profile issues for the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office won't get paid any more for their services until county officials get a better handle on spending in Sheriff Joe Arpaio's agency.

The Sheriff's Office's contract with Kris Kobach, an attorney from Kansas who helped write Arizona's controversial new immigration law, was terminated last month when a representative for interim County Attorney Rick Romley sent a letter announcing the change.

Another attorney representing Arpaio in the U.S. Justice Department's civil- rights investigation into racial-profiling allegations has received more than $150,000 for his work so far. But Maricopa County officials said Thursday they were surprised to learn of Robert Driscoll's compensation, which they believe came from an outside account holding anti-racketeering RICO funds.

'It is, I think, further evidence of potential problems with spending of public monies by the Sheriff's Office,' said county spokeswoman Cari Gerchick. 'We can't imagine it's an appropriate use of funds.'

Kobach has become a national figure in the immigration debate since Gov. Jan Brewer signed SB 1070 into law in April. Even before then, he had already influenced policies at the Sheriff's Office.

Kobach was hired in November to advise then-County Attorney Andrew Thomas' office and the Sheriff's Office on matters related to immigration and law enforcement. He produced a two-hour training video for deputies that included advice on factors that constitute reasonable suspicion that someone is in the country illegally.   Kobach's contract was with Ogletree Deakins, an outside firm Thomas' office hired, and called for Kobach to receive a $300 hourly rate or a $1,500 monthly retainer.   Neither the Sheriff's or County Attorney's offices could say Thursday how much Kobach made in his six months under contract.

Driscoll began working for the Sheriff's Office last summer after Arpaio's agency became the subject of a federal civil-rights investigation.   With a background in the U.S. Attorney General's Office, Driscoll was thought to have the pedigree to lead the Sheriff's Office through a battle with federal investigators.   One month after he was brought in, Driscoll announced that the Sheriff's Office would no longer cooperate with the Justice Department, accusing federal investigators of misleading Arpaio's representatives.

But Driscoll has continued to do work on Arpaio's behalf, to the surprise of Maricopa County administrators.  Alston & Bird, Driscoll's firm, invoiced the Sheriff's Office on March 24, March 29 and again April 12, county officials said.  Based on documents, the officials believe the firm was paid about $155,000, county spokeswoman Gerchick said.[. . . ]

'It's clear that the Sheriff has a right to representation by council (sic) of his choice. He has a right not to be represented by a County Attorney's office that is hostile to his interests,' Driscoll wrote.  [Huh?!!!! Are you kidding the taxpayers?]

County officials first learned of the payments earlier this week after they showed up on spreadsheets sent to the Department of Finance, the county's central finance agency. The payments were included in a spreadsheet created by the Sheriff's Office and used to track and support payments to outside counsel firms.  It is unclear why the expenses were included in the spreadsheets, officials said, because RICO purchases typically are not reported to county finance officials. Amid concerns of questionable spending, the county Board of Supervisors last month decided to freeze Arpaio's access to RICO funds[.]"
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Sheriff Arpaio likes to spend the peoples' money like the proverbial sailor on "shore leave." And Arpaio hates to be accountable to the County for the money he spends, having recently filed another lawsuit to stop the County from obtaining finanicial records of Sheriff's department expenditures this on top of the flurry of frivolous lawsuits and prosecutions pursued against county officials including the presiding Judge, now all dismissed.  This silliness will continue until the taxpayers of Maricopa County get around to saying "enough."

"We'll Do A Little Walt Disney--Uh, The Dash Cam's Off, Right?"

The Miami Herald reports that two former Hollywood, Fla officers caught framing (above: raw dashboard cam video) a motorist for drunk driving have been charged with criminal misconduct.  This is from Diana Moskovitz's story:

"Two former Hollywood police officers were arrested Wednesday and charged with doctoring a police report in 2009 after one of them crashed into a vehicle of an alleged drunken driver. The allegations drew national attention after video shot from inside a police cruiser captured employees saying they would 'do a little Walt Disney'' to protect the officer.

Ex-cops Joel Francisco, 37, and Dewey Pressley, 43, were fired earlier this year. On Wednesday, each was charged with four counts of official misconduct and one count of conspiracy to falsify records, the Broward state attorney's office said.  Both men surrendered and were booked into Broward County's main jail. They were released on Thursday morning, WSVN reported. Bail for each was set at $100,000.

Charges were not filed against three other police employees fired in the scandal's wake: Community Service Officer Karim Thomas, Sgt. Andrew Diaz and crime scene technician Andrea Tomassi [who were also involved.]

Jeff Marano, a leader with the Police Benevolent Association, said the charges were ``overkill'' and reiterated the union's theory that prosecutors reacted to political pressure. 'We're not happy about it,' Marano said of the charges. 'It's a dark day.''

The latest scandal stemmed from a car accident around midnight Feb. 16, 2009, in the 2800 block of Sheridan Street when Francisco rear-ended a car driven by motorist Alexandra Torrens-Vilas. She was arrested.

In a recording taken by an in-car dash camera while Torrens-Vilas sat in the back seat of a police cruiser, officers could be heard discussing how to distort the facts to shift blame from the officer and make it appear he was not at fault. 'We'll do a little Walt Disney to protect the cop because it wouldn't have mattered, because she is drunk anyway,'' one [police] employee said.

After the accusations of the doctored reports surfaced -- the result of a defense attorney viewing the dash camera video -- prosecutors dropped the drunken-driving charges filed against Torrens-Vilas."
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Once again we have a stark example of why Courts should not base convictions on the "word" of the "trained" police officers.  Most cops, like most public officials are honest and reliable, but too often, many are not.  For any court, a la, the Ohio Supremes to hold that due process is met when the cops says so, is to abdicate responsibility for the Rule of Law.

A Meditation on Corruption in Our Counties

I've talked a lot about Andrew Thomas and Sheriff Joe Arpaio in Maricopa County, at this point, probably ad nauseum. In Maricopa County we have a modern American county-wide government so dysfunctional that the State of Arizona was moved to enact and enable oversight by a retired Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice.  This, after Arpaio and County Attorney Thomas criminally indicted and civilly sued all other county officials who dared question their notorious terrorist governing practices and more importantly, their self-seeking budget expenditures.  These elected County clowns have spent millions of dollars for BigLaw representation in lawsuits that defy logic. You can read my prior posts on Maricopa County meltdown at the link.  Better yet the ABAJournal and the Arizona New Times have brilliant summary discussions.  The games go on, with contempt proceedings this last week and the County shutting down the Sheriff's credit card accounts.

While Maricopa County represents one extreme, Cuyahoga County, Ohio encompassing Cleveland probably better represents what goes on more traditionallyy here, there and elsewhere.  Cuyahoga County on Lake Erie is a huge metropolitan area surrounding a rust bucket town that has not been able to get traction.  Like Detroit, Cleveland has many attractive natural attributes, i.e. an enormous fresh body of relatively clean and attractive (in a recreational sense) water and shorelines.  At one time, Cleveland--which is believe it or not very beautiful and temperate-- home to international headquarters to many of the largest corporations in the world, including British Petroleum. 

But like Detroit, Cleveland suffers from some of the worst local governments in the United States.   As I reported in my 6 AM post the longtime, Irish-named Cuyahoga CountySheriff has been criminally charged with a few representative counts of theft in office after nearly a half century of collecting a paycheck and benefits from the citizens of Cleveland and the local County.  So it was surprising that over the weekend, my pal Chuck sent me a link to another reporter, Mark Puente article on that wanna-be-president of the United States, Cuyahoga County prosecutor, Bill Mason (pic) who you may remember from an earlier post on Bad Lawyer that talked about Mason's ambitions and the free pass he and a drunk driving buddy got from the local constabulary.

The link from Chuck was to the weekend Cleveland.com article which as I said was reported by Mark Puente about how Prosecutor Mason put the taxpayers on the hook for a part time law job to politically-connected Michael Climaco (pic: happy, he should be!), brother of the famous Ohio lawyer John Climaco (one of the tobacco-litigation big hitters), to enable the younger Climaco to collect not only a paycheck, but a lifetime sinecure in the form of a tax payer-funded pension and gold-plated health insurance.  It is one thing to hire a first-rate lawyer to do first rate law stuff for you and the community, it is quite another to hire a non-specialist, political hack to provide legal services in an area of law requiring expertise--while letting the taxpayers foot the bill for a lifetime of financial obligation which is what Mason did.  You see, Michael Climaco, who needed public employment like Gerry Spence needs more cowboy hats--was hired part time to represent the County in the defense of workeres' compensation matters.  This area of law involves a great deal of specialization and knowledge, which Climaco most assuredly did not have, so when he failed to provide the anticipated expertise the taxpayers got the added exposure to liabilities related to added premium costs.  Mr. Climaco's qualifications to be the prosecutor's workers' compensation attorney stemmed from Mr. Climaco's tenure as a former City of Cleveland councilman and of course his relationship to John Climaco, a local political powerhouse.  John Climaco is so powerful that Vice President Biden went to Climaco's downtown Cleveland office for a little elite fundraiser for the sitting Governor of Ohio.

As I observed the other day, all roads are toll roads, this being both a personal injunction and a larger observation.  One part of our government is busily investigating and indicting another part of our government.  The Feds are investigating the local governments with whole armies of big and little fish marched into federal custody.  Corruption is not new, or particularly shocking although there sure seems to be a level of prosecutions that I don't recall from prior periods in history.  Still, those of you as old as the Bad Lawyer can look back to Spiro Agnew, the former Vice President and nolo contendre, ex-Governor of Maryland. Then there are all of our mayors, city council men and women, county commissioners and public servants of all stripes being prosecuted in stings and bribery.  There are towns like East Chicago, Indiana, Birmingham, Alabama, Detroit, Michigan, well, then there is almost all of Illinois.

So why is this happening? 

Part of what is going on it seems to me is a product of nepotism, part of the corruption is the attitude of entitlement that overwhelms rational and ethical thought.  But really, do you think these people, our public servants come into power thinking to themselves:  I'm going to rip off the public?  Aside from Blago, I doubt it. 

We pride ourselves on the notion of wheeling and dealing, entrepreneurial smarts--make it happen.  We honor the risk takers, the innovators, the people who can "network." We structure our tax laws to incentivize and enable perverse movements of money. 

Here's a for instance: who gets the best stadium and concert and event tickets?  Who eats in the expensive restaurants? Of course, the operators and owners of our large local corporation, BigLaw firms, wealthy contractors, and filthy rich bankers and insurance companies.  Who do they treat to these seats?  Take a wild guess?  Did you guess, those of us who can help them in their businesses: the Commissioner Italian Name, Councilwoman Irish Name? Guess what--these big corporate fish want nothing from local government, and local government offers them nothing in exchange for the munificence.  Just kidding.

From petty favors, larger and dicier corruption flow. 

Should we do away with these little toll roads?  Yes.  But the dining and entertainment venues and service employers and employees will argue that the tax codes and rules create employment.  These restaurateurs and entertainment folks and their lobbyists will argue that we should not reform away jobs and health insurance for servers, cooks, farmers, ushers, carpenters, electricians and so forth.  Every road is a toll road. 

My employer is a wonderful guy, a real decent and generous guy.  The blond super lawyer and I were fortunate to be included in an invitation to attend a lecture by a local Orthodox Rabbi on the subject of adversity (a particularly apt subject), at my employer's beautiful east side home.   After the formal portion of the talk, I spoke to an old friend of mine who objectively dealt with adversity--her charismatic husband of many years having killed himself over unmanageable tax liabilities stemming from the operation of one of OurTown's most popular diners.  She and I talked about the notion of "peace." My friend, Ruthie is an Israeli-born American.  Ruthie said she feared that there would never be peace between Israelis and Palestinians, implying that the vision laid out by the Rabbi who spoke was Utopian.  My take away from the Rabbi's talk was that absolutely nothing in this life is free, or right, or the way it should be, and ultimately the only place we can effect change is on the inside.  Inside me, inside you, inside our families and friends. 

I am sad for corruption and violence and suffering in the world.  If I think too much about it I become overwhelmed and crazy with stress.  But there is much that is right and hopeful, and miraculous.  I'd like to be around to see my daughter get married and have children, my son to graduate from high school and maybe college.  I'd like to see what they become.  I'd like to contribute more.  But my days of freedom may not last, and my options may turn out to be pretty limited.  Still, I see only a little, I have a limited view of the world, and of time, and certainly of space.  Corruption is something I obsess about, corruption in the police, the courts, government, corporations, employers, and especially the church.  While I can point to certain solutions, the only place I can change is in my own heart.  I can root it out.  I can confess it and try day by day to be a better person.  That is my only purpose.

Bill Mason, the Climacos, Arpaio, Thomas, Blago, Pope Benedict, the Israeli-Palestinian violence and the rest are compelling distractions from what really matters.  Which is, what do I do to exemplify for my children a willingness to reform my own angry and corrupt heart?

Note:  Most of my posts are typed and scheduled for posting at a latter date or time, unfortunately my Cat loves me so much she was not able to stay away as I worked on this post, Isabelle stepped on a key that posted this item a day earlier and out of sequence.  There is a reference to a Sheriff that will not make sense until that item runs at its regularly-scheduled moment.  Oh, well.

BL

Apaio Pees His Pants, Threatens to Sue All Involved

AZcentral.com reports that Maricopa County Supervisors have selected a replacement for Count Attorney Andrew Thomas who under investigation by the feds, quit supposedly to run for Attorney General.  As you will recall Andrew Thomas was Sheriff Joe Arpaio's closest political ally and chief legal enabler in transforming Maricopa County into a Stalinist terror state on the taxpayers' dimes.  Sheriff Joe Arpaio (America's toughest Sheriff) is threatening to sue everyone involved in the process of choosing Thomas' replacement, (somethings never change,) because Arpaio hates the new guy: Rick Romley. 

Romley (pic) a war hero, served a previous term as the Maricopa County Attorney--frequently, and publically opposing much of Arpaio's nonsense.  He is not easily intimidated by Sheriff Joe's horseshit.  Obviously, Arpaio does not like the prospect of not having his way.