Maricopa County Sheriff's Office controversies
Encyclopedia
The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office
(MCSO) is a law enforcement agency
in Maricopa County, Arizona
that has been involved in many controversies since 1995. It is the largest sheriff's office
in Arizona
state and provides general-service and specialized law enforcement to unincorporated areas of Maricopa County, serving as the primary law enforcement for unincorporated areas of the county as well as incorporated cities
within the county who have contracted with the agency for law-enforcement services. It also operates the county jail system. Joe Arpaio
is the sheriff
of Maricopa County. Arpaio, who promotes himself as "America's Toughest Sheriff," has himself become controversial for his approach to operating the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office. First elected in 1992, Maricopa County voters reelected him sheriff in 1996, 2000, 2004 and 2008 by double-digit margins.
According to the Washington Post, on 17 August 2010, the United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division
is opening an inquiry into the Sheriff's Department in relation to alleged racism
and abuse of power
, as well as refusing to cooperate with a federal Justice Department investigation.
Results of meeting their own stated goals are decidedly mixed and below their peer agencies in the same cities, as reflected in the following statistics that are part of a December 2008 report released by the Goldwater Institute. In violent crime, the FBI shows the MCSO has a 69% increase compared to their peers of 18% and -11%. For Homicides, the MCSO contrasts their greater than 160% increase to other jurisdictions who are near zero.
In 2009, the East Valley Tribune won a Pulitzer Prize, arguably the most prestigious award in journalism, for its five-part series that exposed how police protection suffered as the MCSO increased efforts to combat illegal immigration. Tribune reporters Ryan Gabrielson and Paul Giblin produced the five-part series “Reasonable Doubt,” which exposed slow emergency response times and lax criminal enforcement as the department focused more of the agency’s resources on seeking out and arresting illegal immigrants.
in lawsuits filed by the ACLU. In one suit, the ACLU alleges that MCSO Deputies arrested and detained U.S. citizen and a legal resident without justification, stopping them as they were driving down a public roadway, and transporting them to the site of an immigration raid. A separate class-action suit, filed by the ACLU and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) alleges that MCSO Deputies unlawfully stopped and mistreated individuals because they were Latino. The lawsuit charges that this practice is discriminatory and unlawfully violates the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Arizona Constitution.
In April, 2010, the same judge ruled that conditions in the Maricopa County jails continue to violate the constitutional rights of inmates.
In October, 2009, a courtroom video was posted on YouTube, showing an MCSO Detention Officer surreptitiously removing documents from a defense attorney's files. The officer was subsequently found in contempt-of-court for violating attorney-client privilege
, and ordered to hold a press conference, to publicly apologize for his actions. On the deadline set by the court, the officer declined to apologize, and was jailed. The next day, 20 MCSO detention officers failed to report for work at the downtown Phoenix Superior Court, and a bomb threat was called in, causing the building to be evacuated. The same afternoon, more than 150 deputies and detention officers gathered outside the courthouse and reiterated their support for the jailed detention officer. The MCSO appealed the contempt order, and pending the outcome of the appeal, the officer was released from jail. Ultimately, the contempt-of-court ruling was upheld, however the court of appeals threw out the penalty (that the officer apologize), and sent the case back to superior court for the imposition of a more appropriate sanction, such as a fine.
He banned inmates from possessing "sexually explicit material" including Playboy magazine after female officers complained that inmates openly masturbated while viewing them, or harassed the officers by comparing their anatomy to the nude photos in the publications. The ban was challenged on First Amendment
grounds but upheld by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
.
In February 2007, Arpaio instituted an in-house radio station he calls KJOE. Arpaio's radio station broadcasts classical music, opera, Frank Sinatra
hits, patriotic music and educational programming. It operates from the basement of the county jail for five days a week, four hours each day.
In March 2007, the Maricopa County Jail hosted "Inmate Idol", a takeoff on the popular TV show American Idol
.
Starting in July 2000, the Maricopa County Sheriff's website hosted “Jail Cam”, a 24-hour Internet webcast
of images from cameras in the Madison Street Jail, a facility which processed and housed pretrial detainees. The goals of the broadcasts were the deterrence
of future crime and improved public scrutiny of jail procedures. The cameras showed arrestees being brought in handcuffed, fingerprinted, booked, and taken to holding cells; with the site receiving millions of hits per day. Twenty-four former detainees brought suit against the Sheriff's office, arguing that their Fourteenth Amendment
rights of due process
had been violated.
Under Arpaio, the Maricopa County Jails have lost accreditation multiple times. In September, 2008, the National Commission on Correctional Health Care terminated the accreditation of all Maricopa County Sheriff's Office jails for failure to maintain compliance with national standards, and providing false information about such compliance. In October, 2008, a U.S. district court judge ruled that the grossly inadequate conditions at the Maricopa County Jail, overseen by Arpaio, are unconstitutional and jeopardize the health and safety of prisoners.
During the summer of 2003, when outside temperatures exceeded 110 °F (43 °C), which is higher than average, Arpaio said to complaining inmates, "It's 120 degrees in Iraq
and the soldiers are living in tents, have to wear full body armor, and they didn't commit any crimes, so shut your mouths." Inmates were given permission to wear only their pink underwear.
Tent City has been criticized by groups contending these are violations of human and constitutional rights, as well as by Erwin James
, a murderer currently on parole from a life sentence in Britain, who wrote a series of articles about his experiences in British prisons for The Guardian
.
s. In 1996, Arpaio expanded the chain gang concept by instituting female volunteer chain gangs. Female inmates work seven hours a day (7 a.m. to 2 p.m.), six days a week. He has also instituted the world's first all-juvenile volunteer chain gang; volunteers earn high school credit toward a diploma.
Arpaio's success in gaining press coverage with the pink underwear resulted in him extending the use of the color. He introduced pink handcuffs, using the event to promote his book, Sheriff Joe Arpaio, America's Toughest Sheriff.
. Such registration is mandatory for all U.S. males between 18 and 26 years of age, as well as for resident aliens of the same age regardless of their immigration status. Since 2001, a total of 28,000 inmates (including 9,000 illegal aliens) have registered for Selective Service.
The Sheriff also started the "Have a Heart" program in which inmates may volunteer to be organ donors
.
, punishable by up to two years in prison, to smuggle
illegal aliens across the border. While already a federal crime, Arizona’s law, also known as the “Coyote law”, made it legal for local police to enforce immigration law and also classified persons being smuggled as co-conspirators subject to penalties as laid out in the law.
Arpaio has instructed his sheriff's deputies and members of his civilian posse
to arrest illegal aliens. Arpaio told the Washington Times
, "My message is clear: if you come here and I catch you, you're going straight to jail.... I'm not going to turn these people over to federal authorities so they can have a free ride back to Mexico. I'll give them a free ride to my jail."
On March 3, 2009, the United States Department of Justice
"notified Arpaio of the investigation in a letter saying his enforcement methods may unfairly target Hispanics and Spanish-speaking people" Arpaio denied any wrongdoing and stated that he welcomed the investigation, and would cooperate fully. By May, 2009, Arpaio had hired a Washington D.C. lobbyist, who wrote to Obama administration officials suggesting that the decision to probe Arpaio had been driven by political rivalries and score settling. In July, 2009, Arpaio publicly stated that he would not cooperate with the investigation.
In October 2009, the Department of Homeland Security removed the authority of Arpaio's 160 federally trained deputies to make immigration arrests in the field. Despite the actions of the Department of Homeland Security, Arpaio has maintained that he will still pursue illegal aliens under Arizona state law. As of 2011 he continues to do so.
In October 2009, it was reported that the FBI was investigating Arpaio for using his position to settle political vendettas.
In January 2010, it was reported that the Department of Justice
has impaneled a grand jury to investigate allegations of abuse of power by Arpaio.
In March 2010, it was reported that an investigation into Arpaio is "serious and ongoing", according to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder
.
In an interview on the ABC
Nightline news program, when asked to explain why 82 percent of cases were declared cleared by exception, Arpaio said "We do clear a higher percentage of that. I know that. We clear many, many cases -- not 18 percent." Nightline contacted the MCSO after the interview and was told that of 7,346 crimes, only 944, or 15%, had been cleared by arrest.
of images from cameras in the Madison Street Jail, a facility which processed and housed only pretrial detainees. The stated goals of the broadcasts were the deterrence
of future crime and improved public scrutiny of jail procedures. The cameras showed arrestees being brought in handcuffed, fingerprinted, booked, and taken to holding cells; with the site receiving millions of hits per day. Twenty-four former detainees brought suit against the Sheriff's office, arguing that their Fourteenth Amendment
rights of due process
had been violated.
U.S. District Court Judge Earl H. Carroll
held in favor of the former detainees, issuing an injunction
ending the webcasts. By a 2 to 1 vote, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the injunction, with the majority opinion
stating:
In his dissenting opinion
, Circuit Judge Carlos Bea wrote:
The US Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal of the case. Ultimately, Maricopa County was required to pay the detainees' legal costs and damages.
in a report issued on the treatment of inmates in Maricopa County facilities.
criminal justice professor Marie L. Griffin, to examine recidivism
rates based on conditions of confinement. Comparing recidivism rates under Arpaio to those under his predecessor, the study found "there was no significant difference in recidivism observed between those offenders released in 1989-1990 and those released in 1994-1995."
, then called police when he refused to leave a convenience store where they had stopped enroute. Officers took Agster to the Madison Street jail, placed a "spit hood" over his face and strapped him to the chair, where he had an apparent seizure and lost consciousness. He was declared brain dead three days later. A medical examiner later concluded that Agster died of complications of methamphetamine
intoxication. In a subsequent lawsuit, an attorney for the sheriff's office described the amount of methamphetamine in Agster's system as 17 times the known lethal dose. The lawsuit resulted in a $9 million jury verdict against the county, the sheriff's office, and Correctional Health Services.
football wide receiver, who died while in custody of the Sheriff's office.
Norberg was arrested for assaulting a police officer in Mesa
, Arizona, after neighbors in a residential area had reported a delirious man walking in their neighborhood. Arpaio's office repeatedly claimed Norberg was also high on methamphetamine
, but a blood toxicology
performed post-mortem was inconclusive. According to a toxological report, Norberg did have methamphetamine in his urine, though "there would be no direct effect caused by the methamphetamine on Norberg's behavior at the time of the incident". During his internment, evidence suggests detention officers shocked Norberg several times with a stun-gun. According to an investigation by Amnesty International
, Norberg was already handcuffed and face down when officers dragged him from his cell and placed him in a restraint chair with a towel covering his face. After Norberg's corpse was discovered, detention officers accused Norberg of attacking them as they were trying to restrain him. The cause of his death, according to the Maricopa County medical examiner, was due to "positional asphyxia
". Sheriff Arpaio investigated and subsequently cleared detention officers of any criminal wrongdoing.
Norberg’s parents filed a lawsuit against Arpaio and his office. The lawsuit was settled for $8.25 million (USD).
filed in the Maricopa County Superior Court of Arizona by the lawyer for Crenshaw's family stated:
published Arpaio's home address in the context of a story about his real estate dealings. In October, 2007, a Maricopa County special prosecutor served Village Voice Media, the Phoenix New Times' corporate parent, with a subpoena ordering it to produce "all documents" related to the original real estate article, as well as the IP address
es of all visitors to the Phoenix New Times website since January 1, 2004. The Phoenix New Times then published the contents of the subpoena on October 18. Phoenix New Times editors Michael Lacey and Jim Larkin were arrested and jailed by Maricopa Sheriff's Deputies on misdemeanor charges of revealing grand jury
secrets after the publication of the subpoena. On the following day, the county attorney dropped the case and fired the special prosecutor.
On November 28, 2007, it was ruled that the subpoenas were not validly issued and in April 2008, the New Times editors filed suit against Arpaio, County Attorney Andrew Thomas
and Special Prosecutor Dennis Wilenchik.
In 2009, the East Valley Tribune
ran a series of articles that criticized the Maricopa County sheriff for a decline in normal police protection due to an increased focus towards arresting illegal immigrants. The five-part series titled “Reasonable Doubt,” which received a Pulitzer Prize
for local reporting, described "slow emergency response times and lax criminal enforcement."
On December 23, 2009, the Arizona Republic published an editorial titled “The Conspiracy that won’t stop.” The Editorial Board referenced a published letter written by the Yavapai County Attorney, Sheila Polk, titled “Arpaio, Thomas are abusing power” ” in which Polk was critical of Arpaio. The Editorial Board claimed that “As a result of stepping forward, Polk now may join the fast-growing list of Arizona public officials forced to defend themselves against criminal investigations for the "crime" of having upset Arpaio and Thomas.”
, the American Civil Liberties Union
, the Arizona Ecumenical Council, the American Jewish Committee
, and the Arizona chapter of the Anti-Defamation League
. The editorial board
of The New York Times
called Arpaio "America's Worst Sheriff".
On March 11, 2010, Arpaio announced that “the Department of Justice Office of Public Integrity in Washington, D.C. has agreed to review allegations of corruption involving the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors and judicial officials and others. RICO complaints previously filed by the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office and the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office were formally withdrawn so as not to duplicate or hinder the Department of Justice review or any additional investigation necessary.”
On March 13, 2010, in a letter sent to Arpaio’s lawyer, Robert Driscoll of Alston & Bird LLP, Raymond N. Hulser, Acting Chief, Department of Justice, Office of Public Integrity Section, responded that he was "dismayed to learn that (the Sheriff's Office's) mere referral of information to the Public Integrity Section was cited and relied upon in a pleading in federal court, and then used as a platform for a press conference." Mr. Husler also noted in this letter that no review of the materials would be undertaken by the Public Integrity Section.
Maricopa County Sheriff's Office
The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office is a local law enforcement agency that serves Maricopa County, Arizona. It is the largest sheriff's office in Arizona and provides general-service and specialized law enforcement to unincorporated areas of Maricopa County, serving as the primary law enforcement...
(MCSO) is a law enforcement agency
Law enforcement agency
In North American English, a law enforcement agency is a government agency responsible for the enforcement of the laws.Outside North America, such organizations are called police services. In North America, some of these services are called police while others have other names In North American...
in Maricopa County, Arizona
Maricopa County, Arizona
-2010:Whereas according to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau:*73.0% White*5.0% Black*2.1% Native American*3.5% Asian*0.2% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander*3.5% Two or more races*12.7% Other races*29.6% Hispanic or Latino -2000:...
that has been involved in many controversies since 1995. It is the largest sheriff's office
Sheriffs in the United States
In the United States, a sheriff is a county official and is typically the top law enforcement officer of a county. Historically, the sheriff was also commander of the militia in that county. Distinctive to law enforcement in the United States, sheriffs are usually elected. The political election of...
in Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
state and provides general-service and specialized law enforcement to unincorporated areas of Maricopa County, serving as the primary law enforcement for unincorporated areas of the county as well as incorporated cities
Municipal corporation
A municipal corporation is the legal term for a local governing body, including cities, counties, towns, townships, charter townships, villages, and boroughs. Municipal incorporation occurs when such municipalities become self-governing entities under the laws of the state or province in which...
within the county who have contracted with the agency for law-enforcement services. It also operates the county jail system. Joe Arpaio
Joe Arpaio
Joseph M. "Joe" Arpaio is the elected Sheriff of Maricopa County in the U.S. state of Arizona. First voted into office in 1992, Arpaio is responsible for law enforcement in Maricopa County. This includes management of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, county jail, courtroom security,...
is the sheriff
Sheriff
A sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....
of Maricopa County. Arpaio, who promotes himself as "America's Toughest Sheriff," has himself become controversial for his approach to operating the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office. First elected in 1992, Maricopa County voters reelected him sheriff in 1996, 2000, 2004 and 2008 by double-digit margins.
According to the Washington Post, on 17 August 2010, the United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division
United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division
The U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division is the institution within the federal government responsible for enforcing federal statutes prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, sex, disability, religion, and national origin. The Division was established on December 9, 1957, by...
is opening an inquiry into the Sheriff's Department in relation to alleged racism
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
and abuse of power
Abuse of Power
Abuse of Power is a novel written by radio talk show host Michael Savage.- Plot :Jack Hatfield is a hardened former war correspondent who rose to national prominence for his insightful, provocative commentary...
, as well as refusing to cooperate with a federal Justice Department investigation.
Maricopa County Sheriff's Office
The MCSO Vision Statement as posted on their own web site states: “The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office is a fully integrated law enforcement agency committed to being the leader in establishing the standards for providing professional quality law enforcement, detention, and support services to the citizens of Maricopa County and to other criminal justice agencies.”Results of meeting their own stated goals are decidedly mixed and below their peer agencies in the same cities, as reflected in the following statistics that are part of a December 2008 report released by the Goldwater Institute. In violent crime, the FBI shows the MCSO has a 69% increase compared to their peers of 18% and -11%. For Homicides, the MCSO contrasts their greater than 160% increase to other jurisdictions who are near zero.
In 2009, the East Valley Tribune won a Pulitzer Prize, arguably the most prestigious award in journalism, for its five-part series that exposed how police protection suffered as the MCSO increased efforts to combat illegal immigration. Tribune reporters Ryan Gabrielson and Paul Giblin produced the five-part series “Reasonable Doubt,” which exposed slow emergency response times and lax criminal enforcement as the department focused more of the agency’s resources on seeking out and arresting illegal immigrants.
Racial profiling
The MCSO has been accused of racial profilingRacial profiling
Racial profiling refers to the use of an individual’s race or ethnicity by law enforcement personnel as a key factor in deciding whether to engage in enforcement...
in lawsuits filed by the ACLU. In one suit, the ACLU alleges that MCSO Deputies arrested and detained U.S. citizen and a legal resident without justification, stopping them as they were driving down a public roadway, and transporting them to the site of an immigration raid. A separate class-action suit, filed by the ACLU and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) alleges that MCSO Deputies unlawfully stopped and mistreated individuals because they were Latino. The lawsuit charges that this practice is discriminatory and unlawfully violates the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Arizona Constitution.
Jail conditions
A federal judge ruled, in October 2008, that conditions in Maricopa County jails violate the constitutional rights of inmates.In April, 2010, the same judge ruled that conditions in the Maricopa County jails continue to violate the constitutional rights of inmates.
Contempt citation of detention officer
Attorney-client privilege
Attorney–client privilege is a legal concept that protects certain communications between a client and his or her attorney and keeps those communications confidential....
, and ordered to hold a press conference, to publicly apologize for his actions. On the deadline set by the court, the officer declined to apologize, and was jailed. The next day, 20 MCSO detention officers failed to report for work at the downtown Phoenix Superior Court, and a bomb threat was called in, causing the building to be evacuated. The same afternoon, more than 150 deputies and detention officers gathered outside the courthouse and reiterated their support for the jailed detention officer. The MCSO appealed the contempt order, and pending the outcome of the appeal, the officer was released from jail. Ultimately, the contempt-of-court ruling was upheld, however the court of appeals threw out the penalty (that the officer apologize), and sent the case back to superior court for the imposition of a more appropriate sanction, such as a fine.
Controversial use of SWAT forces
On July 23, 2004 SWAT served a search warrant looking for "a stockpile of illegal automatic weapons and armor-piercing pistol ammunition" that they believed was hidden at an upscale home. In the course of serving the warrant, multiple tear gas cartridges were launched into the home. The result of which was the home catching fire. During the fire, SWAT forced the homeowner's 10-month-old pit bull puppy back into the home with a fire extinguisher, causing the dog's death. It was reported that the officers laughed over the incident. Also, the armored personnel carrier used during the assault ran over and damaged a neighbor's vehicle when its brakes failed. Police recovered two weapons; one antique shotgun; and one 9mm pistol. Both weapons are legal to own in Arizona. After failing to find illicit weapons the police served an arrest warrant for the owner who was also wanted on a misdemeanor warrant for failing to appear in Tempe Municipal Court on a couple of traffic citations.Changes to jail operations
Arpaio began to serve inmates surplus food and limited meals to twice daily.He banned inmates from possessing "sexually explicit material" including Playboy magazine after female officers complained that inmates openly masturbated while viewing them, or harassed the officers by comparing their anatomy to the nude photos in the publications. The ban was challenged on First Amendment
First Amendment to the United States Constitution
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering...
grounds but upheld by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is a U.S. federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* District of Alaska* District of Arizona...
.
In February 2007, Arpaio instituted an in-house radio station he calls KJOE. Arpaio's radio station broadcasts classical music, opera, Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
hits, patriotic music and educational programming. It operates from the basement of the county jail for five days a week, four hours each day.
In March 2007, the Maricopa County Jail hosted "Inmate Idol", a takeoff on the popular TV show American Idol
American Idol
American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
.
Starting in July 2000, the Maricopa County Sheriff's website hosted “Jail Cam”, a 24-hour Internet webcast
Webcast
A webcast is a media presentation distributed over the Internet using streaming media technology to distribute a single content source to many simultaneous listeners/viewers. A webcast may either be distributed live or on demand...
of images from cameras in the Madison Street Jail, a facility which processed and housed pretrial detainees. The goals of the broadcasts were the deterrence
Deterrence (legal)
Deterrence is the use of punishment as a threat to deter people from committing a crime. Deterrence is often contrasted with retributivism, which holds that punishment is a necessary consequence of a crime and should be calculated based on the gravity of the wrong done.- Categories :Deterrence can...
of future crime and improved public scrutiny of jail procedures. The cameras showed arrestees being brought in handcuffed, fingerprinted, booked, and taken to holding cells; with the site receiving millions of hits per day. Twenty-four former detainees brought suit against the Sheriff's office, arguing that their Fourteenth Amendment
Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was adopted on July 9, 1868, as one of the Reconstruction Amendments.Its Citizenship Clause provides a broad definition of citizenship that overruled the Dred Scott v...
rights of due process
Due process
Due process is the legal code that the state must venerate all of the legal rights that are owed to a person under the principle. Due process balances the power of the state law of the land and thus protects individual persons from it...
had been violated.
Under Arpaio, the Maricopa County Jails have lost accreditation multiple times. In September, 2008, the National Commission on Correctional Health Care terminated the accreditation of all Maricopa County Sheriff's Office jails for failure to maintain compliance with national standards, and providing false information about such compliance. In October, 2008, a U.S. district court judge ruled that the grossly inadequate conditions at the Maricopa County Jail, overseen by Arpaio, are unconstitutional and jeopardize the health and safety of prisoners.
Tent city
Arpaio set up a "tent city" as an extension of the Maricopa County Jail (33°25′40"N 112°07′26"W). Tent City is located in a yard next to a more permanent structure containing toilets, showers, an area for meals, and a day room. It has become notable particularly because of Phoenix's extreme temperatures. Daytime temperatures inside the tents have been reported as high as 150 °F (65 °C) in the top bunks. During the summer, fans and water are supplied in the tents.During the summer of 2003, when outside temperatures exceeded 110 °F (43 °C), which is higher than average, Arpaio said to complaining inmates, "It's 120 degrees in Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
and the soldiers are living in tents, have to wear full body armor, and they didn't commit any crimes, so shut your mouths." Inmates were given permission to wear only their pink underwear.
Tent City has been criticized by groups contending these are violations of human and constitutional rights, as well as by Erwin James
Erwin James
Erwin James is the pseudonym for convicted murderer and Guardian journalist Erwin James Monahan. James was released in August 2004 having served 20 years of a life sentence. While in prison he wrote a regular column, and continues to write as well as do charity work after his release...
, a murderer currently on parole from a life sentence in Britain, who wrote a series of articles about his experiences in British prisons for The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
.
Volunteer chain gangs
In 1995, Arpaio reinstituted chain gangChain gang
A chain gang is a group of prisoners chained together to perform menial or physically challenging work, such as mining or timber collecting, as a form of punishment. Such punishment might include building roads, digging ditches or chipping stone...
s. In 1996, Arpaio expanded the chain gang concept by instituting female volunteer chain gangs. Female inmates work seven hours a day (7 a.m. to 2 p.m.), six days a week. He has also instituted the world's first all-juvenile volunteer chain gang; volunteers earn high school credit toward a diploma.
Pink underwear
One of Arpaio's most visible public relations actions was the introduction of pink underwear, which the Maricopa County Sheriff's website cites as being "world famous." Arpaio subsequently started to sell customized pink boxers (with the Maricopa County Sheriff's logo and "Go Joe") as a fund-raiser for Sheriff's Posse Association. Despite allegations of misuse of funds received from these sales, Arpaio declined to provide an accounting for the money.Arpaio's success in gaining press coverage with the pink underwear resulted in him extending the use of the color. He introduced pink handcuffs, using the event to promote his book, Sheriff Joe Arpaio, America's Toughest Sheriff.
Selective Service registration and organ donors
In 2001, Arpaio required all inmates 18 years and older to register for the Selective Service SystemSelective Service System
The Selective Service System is a means by which the United States government maintains information on those potentially subject to military conscription. Most male U.S. citizens and male immigrant non-citizens between the ages of 18 and 25 are required by law to have registered within 30 days of...
. Such registration is mandatory for all U.S. males between 18 and 26 years of age, as well as for resident aliens of the same age regardless of their immigration status. Since 2001, a total of 28,000 inmates (including 9,000 illegal aliens) have registered for Selective Service.
The Sheriff also started the "Have a Heart" program in which inmates may volunteer to be organ donors
Organ donation
Organ donation is the donation of biological tissue or an organ of the human body, from a living or dead person to a living recipient in need of a transplantation. Transplantable organs and tissues are removed in a surgical procedure following a determination, based on the donor's medical and...
.
Immigration enforcement
In 2005, the Arizona state legislature passed a state law making it a felonyFelony
A felony is a serious crime in the common law countries. The term originates from English common law where felonies were originally crimes which involved the confiscation of a convicted person's land and goods; other crimes were called misdemeanors...
, punishable by up to two years in prison, to smuggle
People smuggling
People smuggling is defined as "the facilitation, transportation, attempted transportation or illegal entry of a person or persons across an international border, in violation of one or more countries laws, either clandestinely or through deception, such as the use of fraudulent documents"...
illegal aliens across the border. While already a federal crime, Arizona’s law, also known as the “Coyote law”, made it legal for local police to enforce immigration law and also classified persons being smuggled as co-conspirators subject to penalties as laid out in the law.
Arpaio has instructed his sheriff's deputies and members of his civilian posse
Posse comitatus (common law)
Posse comitatus or sheriff's posse is the common-law or statute law authority of a county sheriff or other law officer to conscript any able-bodied males to assist him in keeping the peace or to pursue and arrest a felon, similar to the concept of the "hue and cry"...
to arrest illegal aliens. Arpaio told the Washington Times
The Washington Times
The Washington Times is a daily broadsheet newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. It was founded in 1982 by Unification Church founder Sun Myung Moon, and until 2010 was owned by News World Communications, an international media conglomerate associated with the...
, "My message is clear: if you come here and I catch you, you're going straight to jail.... I'm not going to turn these people over to federal authorities so they can have a free ride back to Mexico. I'll give them a free ride to my jail."
On March 3, 2009, the United States Department of Justice
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
"notified Arpaio of the investigation in a letter saying his enforcement methods may unfairly target Hispanics and Spanish-speaking people" Arpaio denied any wrongdoing and stated that he welcomed the investigation, and would cooperate fully. By May, 2009, Arpaio had hired a Washington D.C. lobbyist, who wrote to Obama administration officials suggesting that the decision to probe Arpaio had been driven by political rivalries and score settling. In July, 2009, Arpaio publicly stated that he would not cooperate with the investigation.
In October 2009, the Department of Homeland Security removed the authority of Arpaio's 160 federally trained deputies to make immigration arrests in the field. Despite the actions of the Department of Homeland Security, Arpaio has maintained that he will still pursue illegal aliens under Arizona state law. As of 2011 he continues to do so.
Federal investigations
In March 2009, the United States Department of Justice notified Arpaio of that they were investigating him for civil rights violations, in unfairly targeting Hispanics and Spanish-speaking people.In October 2009, it was reported that the FBI was investigating Arpaio for using his position to settle political vendettas.
In January 2010, it was reported that the Department of Justice
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
has impaneled a grand jury to investigate allegations of abuse of power by Arpaio.
In March 2010, it was reported that an investigation into Arpaio is "serious and ongoing", according to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder
Eric Holder
Eric Himpton Holder, Jr. is the 82nd and current Attorney General of the United States and the first African American to hold the position, serving under President Barack Obama....
.
Improper clearance of MCSO cases
Reports show that, under Arpaio, the MCSO may be improperly clearing as many as 75% of cases without arrest or proper investigation. The sheriff's office has failed to properly investigate serious crimes, including the rape of a 14 year old girl by classmates, the rape of a 15 year old girl by two strangers, and the rape of a 13 year old girl by her father. These cases were "exceptionally cleared" without investigation or even identifying a suspect in one case which are not in accordance with the FBI standards for exceptional clearance. The case of the 15 year old girl, the case was closed within one month and before DNA testing was even complete, the 13 year old's because her mother did not want to "to pursue this investigation," and the 14 year old's because a suspect declined to come in for questioning. In a statement to ABC15, the Sheriff's Office claimed, "The Goldwater Institute’s report cites the FBI’s Uniform Code Reporting handbook, which is a voluntary crime-reporting program to compile statistical information and reports. The UCR is not intended for oversight on how law enforcement agencies clear cases...The Sheriff’s Office has its own criteria for clearing cases."In an interview on the ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
Nightline news program, when asked to explain why 82 percent of cases were declared cleared by exception, Arpaio said "We do clear a higher percentage of that. I know that. We clear many, many cases -- not 18 percent." Nightline contacted the MCSO after the interview and was told that of 7,346 crimes, only 944, or 15%, had been cleared by arrest.
Webcasts of pretrial detainees
Starting in July 2000, the Maricopa County Sheriff's website hosted Jail Cam, a 24-hour Internet webcastWebcast
A webcast is a media presentation distributed over the Internet using streaming media technology to distribute a single content source to many simultaneous listeners/viewers. A webcast may either be distributed live or on demand...
of images from cameras in the Madison Street Jail, a facility which processed and housed only pretrial detainees. The stated goals of the broadcasts were the deterrence
Deterrence (legal)
Deterrence is the use of punishment as a threat to deter people from committing a crime. Deterrence is often contrasted with retributivism, which holds that punishment is a necessary consequence of a crime and should be calculated based on the gravity of the wrong done.- Categories :Deterrence can...
of future crime and improved public scrutiny of jail procedures. The cameras showed arrestees being brought in handcuffed, fingerprinted, booked, and taken to holding cells; with the site receiving millions of hits per day. Twenty-four former detainees brought suit against the Sheriff's office, arguing that their Fourteenth Amendment
Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was adopted on July 9, 1868, as one of the Reconstruction Amendments.Its Citizenship Clause provides a broad definition of citizenship that overruled the Dred Scott v...
rights of due process
Due process
Due process is the legal code that the state must venerate all of the legal rights that are owed to a person under the principle. Due process balances the power of the state law of the land and thus protects individual persons from it...
had been violated.
U.S. District Court Judge Earl H. Carroll
Earl H. Carroll
Earl Hamblin Carroll is a United States federal judge in senior status, for the United States District Court for the District of Arizona.-Early life and education:...
held in favor of the former detainees, issuing an injunction
Injunction
An injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a court order that requires a party to do or refrain from doing certain acts. A party that fails to comply with an injunction faces criminal or civil penalties and may have to pay damages or accept sanctions...
ending the webcasts. By a 2 to 1 vote, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the injunction, with the majority opinion
Majority opinion
In law, a majority opinion is a judicial opinion agreed to by more than half of the members of a court. A majority opinion sets forth the decision of the court and an explanation of the rationale behind the court's decision....
stating:
- ... Second, Sheriff Arpaio argues that the cameras are justified by the County’s interest in having its pretrial detention centers open to public scrutiny. We have given prison officials wide latitude in administering pretrial detention facilities, in guaranteeing detainees’ attendance at trial, and in promoting prison safety. But we fail to see how turning pretrial detainees into the unwilling objects of the latest reality show serves any of these legitimate goals. As the Supreme Court has recognized, "[i]nmates . . . are not like animals in a zoo to be filmed and photographed at will by the public or by media reporters, however ‘educational’ the process may be for others.
In his dissenting opinion
Dissenting opinion
A dissenting opinion is an opinion in a legal case written by one or more judges expressing disagreement with the majority opinion of the court which gives rise to its judgment....
, Circuit Judge Carlos Bea wrote:
- ... What the majority avoids—perhaps because of the all-too-predictable result—is to ask the question basic to any review questioning the validity of governmental action under a rational basis analysis: were the webcasts reasonably related to the purpose of deterring public behavior that could result in pretrial detention? The answer clearly is Yes. ... Similarly unexamined is the Sheriff’s purpose of providing transparency of jail operations as a civic good.
- Sheriff Arpaio’s methods to achieve his purposes of public deterrence and governmental transparency may not suit the fine sensibilities of some group advocates and jurists. But absent a violation of the constitutional rights of Plaintiffs—and I see none—such differences of opinion must be vindicated, if at all, in the ballot box, not in the courtroom.
The US Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal of the case. Ultimately, Maricopa County was required to pay the detainees' legal costs and damages.
Inmate complaints and lawsuits
From 2004 through November 2007, Arpaio was the target of 2,150 lawsuits in U.S. District Court and hundreds more in Maricopa County courts, with more than $50 million in claims being filed, 50 times as many prison-conditions lawsuits as the New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Houston jail systems combined. Allegations of cruel treatment of inmates as well as living conditions have been cited by Amnesty InternationalAmnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
in a report issued on the treatment of inmates in Maricopa County facilities.
Recidivism
In 1998, Arpaio commissioned a study, by Arizona State UniversityArizona State University
Arizona State University is a public research university located in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area of the State of Arizona...
criminal justice professor Marie L. Griffin, to examine recidivism
Recidivism
Recidivism is the act of a person repeating an undesirable behavior after they have either experienced negative consequences of that behavior, or have been treated or trained to extinguish that behavior...
rates based on conditions of confinement. Comparing recidivism rates under Arpaio to those under his predecessor, the study found "there was no significant difference in recidivism observed between those offenders released in 1989-1990 and those released in 1994-1995."
Inmate deaths and injuries
Family members of inmates who have died or been injured in jail custody have filed lawsuits against the sheriff’s office. Maricopa County has paid more than $43 million in settlement claims during Arpaio's tenure.Charles Agster
In August 2001, Charles Agster, a 33-year-old mentally handicapped man, died in the county jail three days after being forced by sheriff's officers into a restraint chair used for controlling combative arrestees. Agster's parents had been taking him to a psychiatric hospital because he was exhibiting paranoiaParanoia
Paranoia [] is a thought process believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety or fear, often to the point of irrationality and delusion. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of conspiracy concerning a perceived threat towards oneself...
, then called police when he refused to leave a convenience store where they had stopped enroute. Officers took Agster to the Madison Street jail, placed a "spit hood" over his face and strapped him to the chair, where he had an apparent seizure and lost consciousness. He was declared brain dead three days later. A medical examiner later concluded that Agster died of complications of methamphetamine
Methamphetamine
Methamphetamine is a psychostimulant of the phenethylamine and amphetamine class of psychoactive drugs...
intoxication. In a subsequent lawsuit, an attorney for the sheriff's office described the amount of methamphetamine in Agster's system as 17 times the known lethal dose. The lawsuit resulted in a $9 million jury verdict against the county, the sheriff's office, and Correctional Health Services.
Scott Norberg
One major controversy includes the 1996 death of inmate Scott Norberg, a former Brigham Young UniversityBrigham Young University
Brigham Young University is a private university located in Provo, Utah. It is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , and is the United States' largest religious university and third-largest private university.Approximately 98% of the university's 34,000 students...
football wide receiver, who died while in custody of the Sheriff's office.
Norberg was arrested for assaulting a police officer in Mesa
Mesa, Arizona
According to the 2010 Census, the racial composition of Mesa was as follows:* White: 77.1% * Hispanic or Latino : 26.54%* Black or African American: 3.5%* Two or more races: 3.4%* Native American: 2.4%...
, Arizona, after neighbors in a residential area had reported a delirious man walking in their neighborhood. Arpaio's office repeatedly claimed Norberg was also high on methamphetamine
Methamphetamine
Methamphetamine is a psychostimulant of the phenethylamine and amphetamine class of psychoactive drugs...
, but a blood toxicology
Toxicology
Toxicology is a branch of biology, chemistry, and medicine concerned with the study of the adverse effects of chemicals on living organisms...
performed post-mortem was inconclusive. According to a toxological report, Norberg did have methamphetamine in his urine, though "there would be no direct effect caused by the methamphetamine on Norberg's behavior at the time of the incident". During his internment, evidence suggests detention officers shocked Norberg several times with a stun-gun. According to an investigation by Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
, Norberg was already handcuffed and face down when officers dragged him from his cell and placed him in a restraint chair with a towel covering his face. After Norberg's corpse was discovered, detention officers accused Norberg of attacking them as they were trying to restrain him. The cause of his death, according to the Maricopa County medical examiner, was due to "positional asphyxia
Positional asphyxia
Positional asphyxia, also known as postural asphyxia, is a form of asphyxia which occurs when someone's position prevents them from breathing adequately. A small but significant number of people die suddenly and without apparent reason during restraint by police, prison officers and health care...
". Sheriff Arpaio investigated and subsequently cleared detention officers of any criminal wrongdoing.
Norberg’s parents filed a lawsuit against Arpaio and his office. The lawsuit was settled for $8.25 million (USD).
Richard Post
Richard Post was a paraplegic inmate arrested in 1996 for possession of marijuana and criminal trespass. Post was placed in a restraint chair by guards and his neck was broken in the process. The event, caught on video, shows guards smiling and laughing while Post is being injured. Because of his injuries, Post has lost much of the use of his arms. Post settled his claims against the Sheriff's office for $800,000.Brian Crenshaw
Brian Crenshaw was a legally blind and mentally disabled inmate who suffered fatal injuries while being held in Maricopa County Jail for shoplifting. The injuries that led to his death were initially blamed on a fall from his bunk but were later discovered to have been the result of a brutal beating by jail guards on March 7, 2003. A lawsuitLawsuit
A lawsuit or "suit in law" is a civil action brought in a court of law in which a plaintiff, a party who claims to have incurred loss as a result of a defendant's actions, demands a legal or equitable remedy. The defendant is required to respond to the plaintiff's complaint...
filed in the Maricopa County Superior Court of Arizona by the lawyer for Crenshaw's family stated:
An external examination report of the Maricopa County Medical Examiners Office concluded that Brian's death was caused by "complications of blunt force trauma due to a fall." This conclusion was reached largely on the [Maricopa County Sheriffs Office]'s relation of their "history" of Brian's injuries to the Medical Examiner's Office; a history that included the MCSO's implausible story that all of Brian's injuries were caused by a fall from his cell bed. The Maricopa County Medical Examiner conducted no autopsy; nor was the Maricopa County Medical Examiner informed by MCSO or [the Correctional Health Services] about Brian's beating on March 7, 2003 and/or related events. An independent autopsy report later narrowed the cause of Brian's death to peritonitisThe lawsuit against Arpaio and his office resulted in an award of $2 million. As in the Scott Norberg case, it was alleged that Arpaio's office destroyed evidence in the case. In the Crenshaw case, the attorney who represented the case before a jury alleged digital video evidence was destroyed.PeritonitisPeritonitis is an inflammation of the peritoneum, the serous membrane that lines part of the abdominal cavity and viscera. Peritonitis may be localised or generalised, and may result from infection or from a non-infectious process.-Abdominal pain and tenderness:The main manifestations of...
and sepsisSepsisSepsis is a potentially deadly medical condition that is characterized by a whole-body inflammatory state and the presence of a known or suspected infection. The body may develop this inflammatory response by the immune system to microbes in the blood, urine, lungs, skin, or other tissues...
secondary to the duodenal perforation. A fall from Brian's 4-foot, 2 inch bunk could not have simultaneously caused a broken neck, broken toes, and a duodenal perforation.
Conflicts with local news media
In July 2004, the Phoenix New TimesPhoenix New Times
The Phoenix New Times is a free, weekly Phoenix, Arizona newspaper, put out every Thursday. It is the founding publication of the New Times Media , but The Village Voice is now the flagship publication of that company....
published Arpaio's home address in the context of a story about his real estate dealings. In October, 2007, a Maricopa County special prosecutor served Village Voice Media, the Phoenix New Times' corporate parent, with a subpoena ordering it to produce "all documents" related to the original real estate article, as well as the IP address
IP address
An Internet Protocol address is a numerical label assigned to each device participating in a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication. An IP address serves two principal functions: host or network interface identification and location addressing...
es of all visitors to the Phoenix New Times website since January 1, 2004. The Phoenix New Times then published the contents of the subpoena on October 18. Phoenix New Times editors Michael Lacey and Jim Larkin were arrested and jailed by Maricopa Sheriff's Deputies on misdemeanor charges of revealing grand jury
Grand jury
A grand jury is a type of jury that determines whether a criminal indictment will issue. Currently, only the United States retains grand juries, although some other common law jurisdictions formerly employed them, and most other jurisdictions employ some other type of preliminary hearing...
secrets after the publication of the subpoena. On the following day, the county attorney dropped the case and fired the special prosecutor.
On November 28, 2007, it was ruled that the subpoenas were not validly issued and in April 2008, the New Times editors filed suit against Arpaio, County Attorney Andrew Thomas
Andrew Thomas (prosecutor)
Andrew Peyton Thomas is an American politician and author. He served as the county attorney for Maricopa County in Arizona until April 1, 2010, when he announced his resignation, as required by Arizona law, in order to run for the office of Arizona Attorney General...
and Special Prosecutor Dennis Wilenchik.
In 2009, the East Valley Tribune
East Valley Tribune
The East Valley Tribune is a publication concentrating on cities within the East Valley region of metropolitan Phoenix, including Mesa, Tempe, Chandler, Gilbert and Queen Creek....
ran a series of articles that criticized the Maricopa County sheriff for a decline in normal police protection due to an increased focus towards arresting illegal immigrants. The five-part series titled “Reasonable Doubt,” which received a Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
for local reporting, described "slow emergency response times and lax criminal enforcement."
On December 23, 2009, the Arizona Republic published an editorial titled “The Conspiracy that won’t stop.” The Editorial Board referenced a published letter written by the Yavapai County Attorney, Sheila Polk, titled “Arpaio, Thomas are abusing power” ” in which Polk was critical of Arpaio. The Editorial Board claimed that “As a result of stepping forward, Polk now may join the fast-growing list of Arizona public officials forced to defend themselves against criminal investigations for the "crime" of having upset Arpaio and Thomas.”
Critical organizations
Arpaio's practices have been criticized by organizations such as Amnesty InternationalAmnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
, the American Civil Liberties Union
American Civil Liberties Union
The American Civil Liberties Union is a U.S. non-profit organization whose stated mission is "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States." It works through litigation, legislation, and...
, the Arizona Ecumenical Council, the American Jewish Committee
American Jewish Committee
The American Jewish Committee was "founded in 1906 with the aim of rallying all sections of American Jewry to defend the rights of Jews all over the world...
, and the Arizona chapter of the Anti-Defamation League
Anti-Defamation League
The Anti-Defamation League is an international non-governmental organization based in the United States. Describing itself as "the nation's premier civil rights/human relations agency", the ADL states that it "fights anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry, defends democratic ideals and protects...
. The editorial board
Editorial board
The editorial board is a group of people, usually at a publication, who dictate the tone and direction the publication's editorial policy will take.- Board makeup :...
of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
called Arpaio "America's Worst Sheriff".
Lawsuits filed by Joe Arpaio and the MCSO
On December 2, 2009 County Attorney Andrew Thomas and Sheriff Arpaio filed a federal lawsuit alleging racketeering charges against four judges, as well as various private attorneys, all current members of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors and some county managers.On March 11, 2010, Arpaio announced that “the Department of Justice Office of Public Integrity in Washington, D.C. has agreed to review allegations of corruption involving the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors and judicial officials and others. RICO complaints previously filed by the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office and the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office were formally withdrawn so as not to duplicate or hinder the Department of Justice review or any additional investigation necessary.”
On March 13, 2010, in a letter sent to Arpaio’s lawyer, Robert Driscoll of Alston & Bird LLP, Raymond N. Hulser, Acting Chief, Department of Justice, Office of Public Integrity Section, responded that he was "dismayed to learn that (the Sheriff's Office's) mere referral of information to the Public Integrity Section was cited and relied upon in a pleading in federal court, and then used as a platform for a press conference." Mr. Husler also noted in this letter that no review of the materials would be undertaken by the Public Integrity Section.