America’s Toughest Sheriff Guilty of Racial Profiling?!

We have blogged about “America’s Toughest Sheriff” from Maricopa County, Arizona, who m, among other things, has priusoners wear pink underwear.  Now, the Arizona Republic reports that the Arizona chapter of the Anti-Defamation League League has called on the Justice Department to investigate Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s recent crackdowns on undocumented immigrants, saying the sweeps had led to ethnic profiling. The chapter’s executive director, Bill Straus, and the chairman of its board, David Bodney, said recent criticisms of the sheriff deserved a full investigation. “We are deeply troubled by allegations of profiling that have surfaced recently in the media and from leaders of the Latino community,” Straus and Bodney wrote in a joint statement. “Numbers of people have been detained during the ‘sweeps,’ but not all of them have been found to be undocumented. This raises serious questions about the process and its effect upon the community.”

UPDATE (April 18): Showing a unified front, Latino state lawmakers (http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2008/04/17/20080417miranda0417-ON.html) are backing Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon’s call for a federal probe into Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s recent crime sweeps in Hispanic neighborhoods. Lawmakers said the sheriff’s tactics are tantamount to racial profiling and reflect poorly on all Arizonans, regardless of their ethnic heritage. “When one group is under attack like this, when one group is having their civil rights violated, I believe it imperils all of us, everyone across this state and across this country,” said Rep. Linda Lopez, D-Tucson, who joined six other members of the Arizona Legislative Latino Caucus at a Capitol news conference.

KJ