Not surprising. Cockroaches never do like being exposed to daylight.

Don't let up on them, either Arpaio or Thomas. The public needs to be constantly reminded of their abuses of power or they will forget this episode when the next election comes around.

Thomas needs to be put on a bus to Mexico along with Wilenchick, Lottstein and Arpaio..Their all pieces of shit.

They need to be arrested themselves.

Over with and ended ? Hardly....

Over with and ended ?
Hardly....It's just beginning Thomas....

Thomas, Wilenchick, Lottstein and Arpaio need to be put on a bus sent to Mexico or they need to be arrested.

Nothing but NAZI pigs they all are.

shorter Andrew Thomas:

"I was reading this thingie called the (air quotes) Constitution (end air quotes) last night and there was something in there about freedom of the press..."

Hey Joe, you miserable excuse for a sheriff, come to Ireland and we'll show you what the IRA does with Nazi dirtbags. On second thought, you probably don't want to come to Ireland.

With no regard at all,

Bobby Sands Jr.

New Times hermanos: God bless ustedes for what you do. Joe Arpaio is a PENDEJO.

This is great! Finally somebody at the MCAO realized that they were walking on the Constitution. Larkin & Lacey are to be commended for standing up to these bullies!

Also the MCSO should be investigated for denying the New Times their right to see public documents. However much some people may hate the New Times they are a reputable newspaper and should be given the same consideration as every other news outlet.

Thank God The Constitution won today!

Arpaio and Glandy Andy were wrong... but the New Times is still a big pile of Shit Open Borders rag

And here we were worried about Sheriff Joe living too long...

Is there a Russian spy who can take him to dinner, too?

Sheriff Joe is out of hand....
How can I help?

You knew it was going to come down to this because the it was so gestapo. I'm glad New Times stood their ground.
What pissed me off today was the KTAR lacky Annkarlo spouting off that the New Times encourages graffitti and illegal immigration, what a loser way to try to make rating points from the grey and blue haired granny's in Sun City Joe's peeps.
Keep pouring it on boys.

Score one for the good guys.. finally.

Congratulations to Jim and Michael for their victory over a corrupt Sherriff and his DA pal! The insular and extensive corruption of the Phoenix Establishment has suffered a blow from which it won't soon recover. Let's hope it emboldens the reporters of the Cilbuper and other pubs who have laid back and watched for too long.

I guess it's too late to help, but we have headlined your story.

Best,

Joe Shea

Editor-in-Chief

The American Reporter

Plaintiff, Shea v Reno, in which Internet press freedoms were affirmed by the US Supreme Court;

Contributor, Village Voice, 1968-78;

Contributor, LA Weekly, 1979-2001

Thank you for standing up against the forces of fascism now loose in my former country.

If they manage a subpoena on the internet records again, I would love to meet an Arizona process server on my new turf.

¿Si no ahora, cuando?

Joe and Candy gotta go!

We need a rally or something, show these clowns that their days are over in public service.

Oh, and Andy, no more molester mustache, nice touch, and you look less like a ginger elf.

Still ain't gonna make you Governor.

I moved away from Phoenix in 2002 but have read everything you've printed on this idiot.

The 'hate crowd' will continue to pick on the ads and the other stuff that New Times runs to make their publication free. They conveniently choose to ignore the award winning investigative reporting that you are known for.

The small town I lived in has a newspaper that is a majority owner of a convention center being built there. They have used their newspaper to silence critics, smear private citizens, and ruin the careers of politicians who have had the balls to go up against this humongous white elephant convention center that will profit only the paper and its cronies who are building it.

They have friends in the local historic preservation board who allowed them to demolish a large structure listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Their paper is the only game in town.

How I longed for a New Times to have existed there when there was a chance that the demolition could be stopped.

My hats are always off to you guys. People in Phoenix don't know how lucky they are to have you.

You know why Thomas caved in so quickly?

Because the arrests of Lacey and Larkin, and the subpoena behind it all, were so obviously outrageous and wrong that this would have created a firestorm on the blogosphere and among journalists everywhere.

By caving in quickly, at the cost of considerable (short-term) personal embarassment, Thomas is hoping the whole mess will disappear quickly. If it doesn't, he may end up having to polish his resume.

What an incompetent buffoon.

Who'd have ever thought we'd end up missing Rick Romley?

Yay for the charges being dropped. Thomas needs to resign. Not to mention the drunk and paranoid senile sheriff.

Its too soon to congratulate your paper for Asshole Thomas's dismissal of the grand jury charges. I rally you to keep the heat on until the sheriff is run out of town!

My friends and relatives both domestic and international called or emailed me today for my take on what they read about the arrests. They can't conceive this senario taking place in Phoenix, a place they love to visit in spite of our crime, traffic and pollution.
Now, they are questioning their view and wondering about their own safety should they come back.

After years of recovery from the Meeghan and Symington crackpot images I think the subpoenas may have this time forever alterted many people's perception of Phoenix as a beautiful and peaseful place to visit or live.

Unless he is run out of town and soon, very soon, fewer people will dare come to Phoenix to vacation, live or work except desperate illegal aliens. And, for them, thats just fine because there will always be better opportunity for them here than in Mexico in spite of the sheriff!

Jerry

I have been an follower of the LA New Times, Village Voice, and the PHX New Times for at least the last 25 years. My friend worked for the LA New Times 20 years ago who would bring the paper to my house 2 nights before press.

I believe in the thought of "Free Press", "MY right to question MY representatives" and "Question Authority; whomever they may be", and have taught my child to do the same. She is now on her high school paper questioning authority as I did...

Dudes, YOU ROCK!! Stand up and testify exactly what is going on!

It is not only my right, but my RESPONSIBILITY to question authority, either at a state or federal level, but also as an American Citizen.

I consider myself as a liberal republican. But, even before that, as a responsible American. As such, go after them boys!!!

The temporary (and painless) scapegoating of Wilenchik seems geared to get rid of this PR nightmare for Arpaio and Thomas. Congrats to New Times to standing up to the ham-handed tactics of Arpaio-Thomas-Wilenchik. Thomas' press conference would not have occured without New Times' 10/18 report on the unConstitutional subpoena. This story is not over. Thomas' disavowal of knowing what Wilenchik was doing since August (supposedly without the boss's consent) is completely unbelievable and Wilenchik's blank check from the CA's office should be investigated and continue to be highlighted by the NT as you have been doing so well up to now.

I have been an follower of the LA New Times, Village Voice, and the PHX New Times for at least the last 25 years. My friend worked for the LA New Times 20 years ago who would bring the paper to my house 2 nights before press.

I believe in the thought of "Free Press", "MY right to question MY representatives" and "Question Authority; whomever they may be", and have taught my child to do the same. She is now on her high school paper questioning authority as I did...

Dudes, YOU ROCK!! Stand up and testify exactly what is going on!

It is not only my right, but my RESPONSIBILITY to question authority, either at a state or federal level, but also as an American Citizen.

I consider myself as a liberal republican. But, even before that, as a responsible American. As such, go after them boys!!!

I wonder if Joe will be charged now? People make mistakes and pay for them in jail.. I doubt he will.. false arrest.. false imprisonment.. how about the damage suffered by being handcuffed in the middle of the night in front of your children.. because of a mistake.. will Joe pay.. more than likely not.

I am proud to be living in a city that stood up to tyranny, censorship and the likes of Joe and his cronies to say "I'M MAD AS HELL AND NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE!!" Next step for us is to organize, petition, whatever it takes to get these two clowns out of our lives, city and state for good.

Just because they have backed off does not mean that this should die quietly. Arpaio and Thomas need to be investigated relentlessly , just as they have done themselves on so many occasions. They have exposed themselves, lets keep picking at the scabs until the truth is revealed. I truly want to believe that my vote counts, even if it is after the fact.

Just the fact that the 'arrests' were done in the middle of the night indicates that the sherrif's office knew it was on shakey ground, and was doing this purely to harass. If they were not trying to get away with something, they would have done it in public, in broad daylight with the cameras rolling. All of that Youtube action would have been a little too much for Arpaio. Hitler had to kill the Jews in secret, and lots of German citizens denied that it was going on, even though they knew. Otherwise they could not sleep at night. WELL ITS TIME TO WAKE UP ARIZONA !!!

Its Arpaio's cover-up of his real estate dealings that started this debacle, even though he will try to point the finger elsewhere.

Even though the public records have been successfully concealed, there are certainly plenty of citizens that were exposed to the details of these transactions. We have to call on them to come forth. If enough information comes out, it might trigger an investigation into the 'Arpaio Scandal.' It was before my time, but wasn't Symington brought down this way?

Comments on Thomas and and on Lacey---

1. Remember I was the Demo nominee against Romley in 1992---and got NO support from the party. Indeed some of my best friends---who had worked with me opposing excessive incarceration like Dave Tierney---organized a Democrats for Romley which doomed my candidacy. Although Romley HAD mishandled Azscam, the Temple murders anbd other matters, he WAS a "relative liberal" for a Republican prosecutor---indeed more liberal than the DEMOCRATIC County Atty in Pima County then and now (two of THEIR preosecutors have been DISBARRED for trying to railroad people to the gas chamber!!). In later years, Romley became less political and MORE reasonable---to the point that I TOO supported him for his NEXT two re-elections.
His mistake in 2004 was supporting Thomas to succeed him---as did the Republic---both of which are now SORRY. I am glad to see that Romley is now opposing BOTH Arapaio and Thomas. My experience with Sheriff Joe is stated in my blog underneath last night's original arrest story.

2. As to Mike Lacey, although I DO admire him, he is no fan of mine. The New Times has several timers printed extremely CHEAP shots against me, most notably the July 4 cover story in 2002 on my outrageous disbarment. A prior story on the CA race in 1992 subtly implied I was a child molester---although the author later admitted privately that he no longer believed that. (Mentoring kids is a GOOD thing---not evidence of evil acts).

My main CURRENT dispute with Lacey is his claim that HE founded the New Times in 1970. My somewhat-hazy memory tells me that NT was founded in the mid 60's by Daniel Ben Horin and others; as stated in my other blog, I personally SAVED NT in 1968 or so by guaranteeing a $2000 loan. Thereafter, the paper fell into "bad hands"; as a stockholder. I was present at the "coup SH meeting" in about 1970 when a bunch of us prominent radicals including State Rep/JP Renz Jennings engineered a proxy fight that put control of NT in Lacey & Larkin. They get the credit of course for turning it into a nationwide multi-million-dollar success; my only mistake was taking their offer to buy out my $100 stock investment for $3300. It would now be worth 10 times that I presume.

In any event, the First Amendment won a BIG victory today; but as the other posters have said above, the NT must continue its efforts to expose and remove from public office the CA & Sheriff. This will actually be harder than before, because of the outrageous public prejudice against Hispanics, which makes Ev Mecham's animus against Blacks seem like a picnic. Joe & Andy have latched on to this politically-winning pogrom.

Thomas...Arpaio...THEY HAVE NO MERCY WITH POOR PEOPLE THAT CAME HERE TO WORK...WHY WE SHOULD HAVE MERCY FOR THEM????

I said NO AMNESTY FOR LAWBRAKERS USING NAZI STYLE TACTICS!!!

We should put this couple of pendejos out of office ASAP, they have show their true colors!!!

Thomas...Arpaio...THEY HAVE NO MERCY WITH POOR PEOPLE THAT CAME HERE TO WORK...WHY WE SHOULD HAVE MERCY FOR THEM????

I said NO AMNESTY FOR LAWBRAKERS USING NAZI STYLE TACTICS!!!

We should put this couple of pendejos out of office ASAP, they have show their true colors!!!

Congratulations! Your investigative reporting is part of what is crucial for us to maintain our freedom! Your courage in refusing to hand over information about your readers is something I am, and every American should be, grateful for. Regardless of our political affiliations, we need to stand up for the constitutional rights of all citizens.

This is not about freedom of the press. This is about rights which do not accrue to newspapers or other collectives--only to individuals. Government was created to protect these rights. When government officials become the violators of rights, then the world's largest minority--the individual--suffers law and order that have been perverted into chaos and disorder. Such power abusers should be banished so far away that they can never become "illegal aliens" seeking to share in what is left of the American way of life which they've rejected.

This makes me so mad. Hopefully, this will ruin any chance Andy Thomas has of running for governor of Arizona.

I am SO relieved...having visited the New Times website many times in the past I was waiting for the knock on my door - to be hauled off by Sheriff Joe's gestapo troops for the crime of having tried to educate myself.

Joe and Andy are embarrassments to us all.

Have you thought about auctioning off that subpoena for charity ala that fat idiot radio guy? I suggest you benefit the ACLU. I'm in for a hundred bucks, but I'm sure someone a whole lot richer than I am would like to have that framed on the wall. It is a sure sign of things to come of we don't get serious about protecting our liberties!

Despite Thomas' claim, he does not have the authority to quash the grand jury subpoenas. That authority lies with the grand jury, or Judge Baca in her role overseeing the grand jury. While I expect that the subpoenas will be quashed, the grand jury may choose to continue to investigate the matter irrespective of the wishes of the prosecutor. Maybe the grand jury will see fit to investigate Arpaio, Thomas and Wilenchik. We can only hope.

I was kinda hoping this would stick, just so people here would really wake up and see just how obviously crooked and insane these idiots truly are, which would require an immediate call to action...

I'm glad,however, as nobody had to spend any real time in jail, and now ThomASS, Wilenchik, and Sheriff Joke are gonna be humming "A Boy Named SUED..."

Step it up ppl, let's put some real pressure on these jerkoffs to resign... Remember, this is our city, not Washington, we live here, this kind of bullshit effects us more directly, so let's return the favor...

Thank you New Times for fighting the good fight here!!!

J

HaHa! Suck it deep gentlemen! Of course I don't care if Thomas wants to resign or not since both he and Wilenchick will probably be disbarred. Personally I think these guys are both a little whacked upstairs. Really. How do you spend that much time in college and turn around and do something so astronomically and obviously stupid??? How much oversight is missing from this picture so far? Didn't one person stand up and point out how obviously stupid this is? You just have to wonder how it did get this far. Since it did however not only does Thomas need to go but pretty much everyone in that office needs to be replaced.

I wonder if these asstwats are having lunch right now discussing why people don't respect their authoritai.

Tell your sheriff to semd an email to my email address as noted herein and I will give him my street address here in Texas where so he can come to my door.

The text of the law that allegedly makes it a crime to post the home address of a peace officer online is located at:

http://www.azleg.gov/ars/13/02401.htm

After reading the actual law, you'll realize that there's no hard and fast prohibition to posting such information online.

In order for it to be a crime, there has to be an imminent threat posed to the peace officer by the dissemination of the information AND the poster has to reasonably know that posting the information would pose an imminent threat.

The fact that Arpaio has been unable to make a credible case in OVER three years of investigation that the post posed a serious and imminent threat to him in any way, should make it clear Arpaio and Thompson's actions have been motivated by spite.

Additionally, since the statute doesn't apply equally to all classes of individuals, it is clearly in violation of the State Constitution. The Equal Privileges and Immunities Clause of the State Constitution at Article 2, Section 13 effectively nullifies the statute in question since it only applies to the ruling elite and not to the rest of us commoners. See:

http://www.azleg.gov/FormatDocument.asp?inDoc=/const/2/13.htm

As such, Arpaio and Thompson don't have a case and never did. Consequently, they need to be removed from office with all due haste and charged accordingly for their malicious actions against the individuals they're supposed to be serving and protecting.

The law reads in pertinent part:

"13-2401. Personal information on the world wide web; exception; classification; definitions

A. It is unlawful for a person to knowingly make available on the world wide web the personal information of a peace officer, justice, judge, commissioner, public defender or prosecutor if the dissemination of the personal information poses an imminent and serious threat to the peace officer's, justice's, judge's, commissioner's, public defender's or prosecutor's safety or the safety of that person's immediate family and the threat is reasonably apparent to the person making the information available on the world wide web to be serious and imminent."

I hear the Jena 6 prosecutor is looking for a new gig, maybe he could work in your community for a change and give us a break.

Turn about is fair play why don't you print YOUR home address' so we can drive by and annoy you. I believe that all newspapers carry their first amendment rights way too far. You've pissed off enough people that I dare you to print your home address'

This is not a 'mistake'. Anyone who would bring this case is an evil organization front trying to intimidate the American people into giving up their civil rights.

F them.

@Randy, who said "I believe that all newspapers carry their first amendment rights way too far"

Poor Randy, he doesn't understand they're his First Amendment rights, too. But I'm sure he won't understand the difference, since he obviously has so little respect for or knowledge of the Bill of Rights that he can't even apply proper capitalization when writing about one of them.

But that's okay. Randy's a typical self-centered bubblehead, and one of these days he'll be singing a different tune when something unfair happens to him. The only way his kind ever learns is when it's made personal.

How can the public demand an audit into the MCSO? seeing all this money spend on special prosecutors and things makes me wonder what else he's spending our money on, besides tanks. WTF?

When reading about the sheriff's financial goings-on, I was reminded of "The Shawshank Redemtion". I wonder where his second set of books are?

Oh you whacky news people!

I am so proud to say that I am one of the hundreds of thousands that will be investigated if those subpoenas are upheld by the Grand Jury.

I have made The Phoenix New Times manditory reading in my home.

Your civil disobedience has so inspired me, I'm digging in my closet for my tie dyes, bell bottoms and buffalo sandels!

Right On! Far Out! Power To The People!
And Keep The Faith!

Isn't it amazing that after all this bullshit with Thomas & Arpaio, this can be found on the internet so easiy.
http://156.42.40.50/CampFinDocs/pdf/2004_17747.pdf

"FURIOUS PUBLIC BACKLASH FORCES COUNTY ATTORNEY ANDREW THOMAS TO DROP CASE AGAINST NEW TIMES."

Isn't that the exact reason there are rules regarding disclosing details of a subpeona?

Oh, sorry....back to the kool aid......Yes, good job New Times of expsoing the facists.

Old rich white people are bad and Bush is a Nazi

I'm curious WHO at the Sheriff's Department prepared the arrest warrant(s) and at who's direction? What numb-nutted judge would signed such a warrant?

Ray was my journalism instructor at ASU a few years ago! I remember he told us about bringing down Rick Romley... I see you're still at it Ray, keep up the good work! How ironic that you can be cited for photographing documents that are e-mailed out to the assignment editors of every news station in town...

To Norman Barnett---There was NO arrest warrant for Lacey & Larkin. They were arrested based on "probable cause." Under state law, this normally can not be done for a MISDEMEANOR
unless it is committed in the PRESENCE of the arresting officer; combining ARS 13-3883 and 13-3903, it can be contended that upon an arrest for a misd w/o a warrant---as herein--there is NO authority to jail the person arrested; they must EITHER be given a CITATION/notice to appear or taken "without unnecessary delay before the NEAREST magistrate"under 13-3898. In 1970 or so, I challenged the then (and still now apparently) ILLEGAL practice of taking such persons to JAIL, and got first Presiding Judge Charles Hardy and then Tolleson JP Vern Sessions to issue criminal complaints against a cop who took my client to jail instead of to a judge; however, then County Atty Mo Berger attacked me in the press and DISMISSED BOTH criminal complaints w/o prosecuting them.
Clearly, L & L should SUE Willenchik & Arapaio for their arrest. ARS 13-2812, the statute governing GJ secrecy, is very ambiguous; it does NOT specifically cover subpoenas---but only Testimony or other matters "attending a GJ proceeding..." The INTENT of such laws is CLEAR---(a) to protect the innocent who are being investigated from being exposed if not indicted; AND (b)to prevent the guilty being investigated from escaping before they can be indicted and arrested. Neither basis would be applicable here. Further, indictments for misdemeanors of ANY kind are VERY RARE in this State & country; about the last one not attached to a felony was the DWI indictment against the late Senastor Paul Fannin in 1973 after the City refused to prosecute him following a DUI arrest. That "scandal" was one of the main reasdons I was elected to the City Council in 1973 after two prior losing tries.
The NORMAL procedure for charging any misdemeanor is for a cop to go before a magistrate and show probable cause that a crime has been committed, and secure a SUMMONS for the Defendant's appearance; under Cr. Rule 2.4, a magistrate MUST find probable cause by examining the cop under oasth or "the complaint shall be dismissed."
I served 4 yrs as a JP pro-tem. Contra to the rule & case law, magistrates almost NEVER Q the cop as required---but just sign off on a complaint handed them; one of the MAIN reasons I no longer serve as a JP pro-tem is because I tried to follow the law on that---which infuriated BOTH the cops AND the regular JP I was sitting in for. The NT should do a story on this routine violation of the Rules of Criminal Procedure in this county.

The following email was written by a friend of mine who happens to work as a Phoenix criminal attorney. He wrote it in response to my asking him for his opinion on this whole ordeal, his reply is interesting:

Thomas is a half-bright nutball who probably didn't have proper potty training as a child so now is his chance to try to control everyone else with his bizarre version of justice. He never tried a felony case during the brief time he pretended to be a prosecutor before getting elected, a fact he hates to have revealed. He is widely despised in the criminal justice community both inside and outside his office as a marginal lawyer with an obvious set of personality disorders that cause him to equate "good" with a brittle, fascistic sense of "order." There's already a huge turnover of lawyers in his office because it's such a miserable place to work.

What you are seeing now is the beginning of the end of his public career in Arizona. Watch as the powers that be take his ass out in an ice cold way -- the bar complaint will serve as a foil for the print media to unleash a torrent of attacks on his office. Money and therefore politicians will flee from Thomas like rats from a burning barn in response. Never fight with some one who buys ink by the barrel. His only real base is the far, far right -- he's on the wrong side of history, so his days are clearly numbered. One sign? His predecessor, Romley has endorsed Dan Saban, a Democrat (and former client of mine), for Maricopa County Sheriff in the next election cycle.

Some things never change. I just moved back to Phoenix, but I attended ASU back in the days when Arizona elected a used car dealer as governor. You all remember good ol' Ev Mecham, right?

Unfortunately, and despite what I've read on this site, I think very little of the uproar is over Thomas trying to squelch the rights of a free press... I think what made a lot of people take notice was the part of the Subpoena that requested the identities of everyone who'd read the NT online. A lot of Americans really don't give a damn about freedom of the press, but when the special prosecutor took a step toward tracking individuals' Internet habits, well, that sounded sort of George Bush-ian. Hopefully he'll get the message, but I doubt it.

I just want to commend Michael Lacey and what he stands for in Phoenix Az.
Like Jim Cozzolino said "Joe Arpaio, and the other 2 cockroches need to be transported in a broken bus on a long trip to "Mexico"
Where they should be treated as con-artist, Thieves, liars, and everything else that exist for slime like those 3.
I love the Phx NewTimes and we think Michael Lacey is tops! He should be governing the Town of Phx.

God Bless Lacey and his staff.
and his "HIS PAPER "PHOENIXNEW TIMES"
IF WE KEEP WASHING THE DIRT COMES OFF THAT GOES FOR THOSE DIRTY, DIRTY ROACHES-JOE AND HIS BUGS.

very interesting, but I don't agree with you
Idetrorce

www.tlc24seven.webs.com