The Phoenix Sun

The Maricopa (Arizona) County Sheriff’s Office, headed by Sheriff Joe Arpaio, engages in “the most egregious racial profiling in the United States,” according to an expert hired by the U.S. Department of Justice.

At a press conference in Phoenix today, Assistant U.S. Attorney General Thomas Perez announced the results of a three-year-long investigation by the DOJ.

Demonstrator at 2010 rally in Phoenix, protesting SB-1070 (copyright Osha Gray Davidson)

The DOJ concluded that the controversial “Sheriff Joe” (as he likes to be called) routinely violates the Constitution and laws of the United States by discriminating against Latinos. Arpaio, who is a strong backer of anti-immigrant policies, including Arizona’s law, SB-1070, has denied that he racially profiles. According to the DOJ’s expert, however, records show that Latino drivers are four to nine times more likely to be stopped by the MCSO than non-Latinos under identical circumstances.

Violations by the Sheriff’s department goes well beyond racial profiling. The MCSO also illegally retaliates against people who criticize the organization, the investigation found.

“People opposed to the Department’s policies were frequently arrested and jailed for no reason,” said Perez. In the Sheriff’s jails, Spanish-speaking inmates were then punished for not complying with orders, given in English, that they did not understand — a violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

“In short,” said the DOJ Attorney, the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office “is broken.”

Perez concluded his statement by stressing that his office wants to work with the MCSO to fix the many serious problems that exist there. “It’s is clear to me that this community is divided,” he said, “and needs to heal.”

But, should the MCSO refuse to cooperate, Perez warned, “we will not hesitate to take prompt, appropriate legal action.”

Arizona State Senator Russell Pearce

Arizona State Senator Russell Pearce is known for many things.

He was a driving force behind the controversial Arizona immigration law SB1070, which critics say targets Hispanics and will lead to racial profiling.

In 2006, Pearce sent an Email to friends with an article from a neo-Nazi tract vilifying Jews and African-Americans. (When his Email became public, Pearce said he hadn’t read the full article.)

But Pearce has never been known for his sense of humor — and that’s not t likely to change with the “joke” he recently told about what would happen if President Obama visits Arizona.

One note of context: during the president’s 2009 visit to Phoenix, where he addressed the national convention of Veterans of Foreign Wars, armed men milled around outside the hall, including one carrying a semi-automatic version of a U.S. military assault rifle. The man with the assault rifle was a member of a Phoenix-area church that also expressed a less-than-welcoming posture toward the nation’s first Black president.

The day before Obama’s visit, Steven Anderson, pastor of the Faithful World Baptist Church, explained that he wasn’t about to “pray for God to give [Obama] a good lunch tomorrow, while he’s in Phoenix, Arizona. Nope. I’m not going to pray for his good. I’m going to pray that he dies and goes to hell.”

To be clear, Pearce is not a member of Anderson’s church. But, he is certainly aware of the hate-talk and prayers for the president’s death that filled the airwaves in Phoenix during and after the president’s visit. It’s a climate Pearce continues to stoke. In late November, Pearce told a crowd that Obama had committed treason when the president “sided with a foreign government” against the United State by opposing SB1070.

In a few weeks, Pearce will be sworn in as president of the Arizona State Senate. And that’s no joke.

Sorry I haven’t been covering solar power much recently. Here’s why: Arizona SB1070.

If you haven’t heard about it (???), the bill is the most draconian anti-immigrant legislation to be signed into law. There are large demonstrations taking place at the Arizona State Capitol grounds and I’ve been covering them, and the bill itself, in Brief Back, the blog I write for True/Slant.

I’m also busy with a series of investigative pieces on energy and the environment for OnEarth magazine. And the occasional book review (like this one for Grist) on the extraordinary new book, Merchants of Doubt, by Naomi Oreskes and Erick M. Conway.

There’s a lot of news to report on the solar front, too, and I’ll be covering it soon. Thanks for your patience.