http://www.dirtbadge.com/2009/10/17/arizonas-fu...

http://www.dirtbadge.com/2009/10/17/arizonas-fu...

I expect you to disagree, and that's fine. But don't expect me to follow where you are going.

And why should all Christians support him? You are offering a false choice when you say that we either support him or we support the criminals. Isn't he a public office holder? As citizens, and especially as Christian citizens, aren't we responsible to exercise our voting rights responsibly? If we don't think the Sheriff is doing his job properly, isn't it our responsibility to vote for someone else? How would that be supporting the criminals? If we think some of his actions in office are not in keeping with the purpose for that office, how is it supporting the criminals to oppose those actions?

And I fail to see how any Christian can support his deliberate humiliation of prisoners, regardless of the nature of their crimes.

Finally, regarding your comment that Jesus wants us to obey all laws, I would remind you that it was legal–indeed required–in Nazi Germany to turn Jews in to the authorities, and it was illegal to shelter them. Our brother Dietrich Bonhoeffer was martyred because he believed those laws were unjust. Was Bonhoeffer wrong? Should Christians have obeyed even those laws?

Don't feed the trolls!

Peace

Maybe someday you will understand why Jesus, while on the cross before his last breath, offered the “criminal” next to Him a place in heaven.

Last fall the Arizona Republic recorded the actions of Sheriff Joe in his raid on City Hall in Mesa, Arizona, and the regional library – leading about 60 deputies in bulletproof vests with semi-automatic weapons to arrest several cleaning workers, outraging the Mesa city Mayor (http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/a...). I think the non-partisan report by the Goldwater Institute regarding Arpaio's force's ineffectiveness proves absolutely true: “It has diverted resources away from basic law-enforcement functions to highly publicized immigration sweeps, which are ineffective in policing illegal immigration and in reducing crime generally” (report at http://www.goldwaterinstitute.org/AboutUs/Artic...).

I hope the conversation alone might be helpful. I'm from Maricopa County Arizona, and consider it shameful what Sheriff Arpaio has gotten away with. He's a thug in the truest sense of the word.

Some facts which might merit your concern and review:
1. Mr. Arpaio's jails have lost their National accreditation for their gross negligence with regard to the standards set for Prisons (http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2008-10-09/news/...).
2. In a review by The Goldwater Institute (a conservative think-tank founded in the stead of Sen. Barry Goldwater), Sheriff Arpaio and the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office fell grievously short of achieving their charter, instead building a reputation for “self-promotion” and diverting resources “away from basic law-enforcement functions to highly-publicized immigration sweeps.”(http://www.goldwaterinstitute.org/AboutUs/ArticleView.aspx?id=2440) The report also states that the “MCSO’s detention facilities are subject to costly lawsuits for excessive use of force and inadequate medical services. Compounding the substantive problems are chronically poor record-keeping and reporting of statistics, coupled with resistance to public disclosure.”
3. The New York Times has written three editorials about the Sheriff, who they have come to call “America's Worst Sheriff.” (http://theboard.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/31/am... , http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/06/opinion/06fri... , http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/05/business/medi...).

When all is said and done, Arpaio has cost the people of Arizona over $41 million in court fees for legal battles regarding the brutal abuse of prisoners under his watch and subsequent legal battles regarding wrongful deaths (an article discussing the wrongful deaths: http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2007-12-20/news/...). Dozens have died under Sheriff Joe – just a new death last fall and another TWO just this week (http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2008-11-20/news/... , http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/20...).

Sheriff Joe is an egomaniac, and under his watch Arizona has gone from bad to worse, and to now having one of the highest violent crime rates in the Nation. As these articles point out, Sheriff Joe is part of the problem – not the solution.

-david

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The New York Times' editorial board published an article calling Arpaio the worst sheriff in the country (http://theboard.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/31/am...),
and published another article regarding the uncalled for parading of latin/mexican-american inmates around (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/06/opinion/06fri...).

Arpaio also has a penchant for the dramatic, and loves notariety – so last December he contracted with Fox Network reality television producers to make a tv show “a prank-fueled effort to bring nonviolent offenders with outstanding warrants in or near Phoenix to justice.”

The New York Times had a response to that as well (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/05/business/medi...).

But yes, if this is what he is doing, that's no good.

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