Joe Arpaio Denies Justice Department Allegations, but Offers Up Some Strange Claims

Sheriff Joe Arpaio

Lawyers for Sheriff Joe Arpaio filed a response to the Justice Department's racial-discrimination lawsuit, which mostly just denies each of the 188 allegations in the DoJ's suit.

The denial also contains some very interesting claims from Arpaio, including repeated claims that the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office does not conduct "sweeps" or "raids."

See also:
-Joe Arpaio's Lawyers Fail to Get Sheriff Off the Hook in Justice Department Lawsuit
-Arpaio Lawyers: Discriminating Against Spanish-Speakers Doesn't Violate Civil Rights
-Joe Arpaio, MCSO Sued by Justice Department for Racial Discrimination
-Joe Arpaio's Office Commits Worst Racial Profiling in U.S. History, Concludes DOJ

"...Defendant Arpaio asserts that the MCSO conducts crime suppression operations and saturation patrols, but does not conduct 'sweeps,' and that the use of that militaristic term 'sweeps' is a product of the media and Department of Justice Attorneys," Arpaio's attorneys wrote in the response, literally 10 times.

Now, where would the damned media get an idea like that? For one, a press release from Arpaio:

A press release from the office of "Joe Arpaio, Sheriff."

Also, on the subject of MCSO raids, Arpaio's never heard of 'em.

"...Defendant Arpaio denies that MCSO conducts 'raids' and affirmatively asserts that MCSO conducts law enforcement operations lawfully and constitutionally," Arpaio's response to the DoJ lawsuit says.

Nope, no raids to see here.


The apparent junior-varsity lawyer at the law firm representing Arpaio -- Jones, Skelton, & Hochuli -- also included a couple other fun facts in response to the Justice Department's lawsuit.

For one, consider the "employer sanction operations" the Sheriff's Office conducts. New Times continuously pointed out that these always resulted in the arrests of employees, but zero problems for the employer that's supposed to be sanctioned in, you know, an "employer sanction operation."

"Defendant Arpaio admits that MCSO has not arrested employers as no employer has been tied into any violations," Arpaio's attorneys write.

Elsewhere, Arpaio's attorneys have a response to the seemingly racist quotes in Arpaio's books -- the ones Arpaio claimed over the summer were penned by a co-author.

"...Defendant Arpaio admits that he co-authored a book in 2008 and affirmatively asserts that the content of that book, including any quotations, speak for themselves," the response says.

Another Arpaio quote, this one from a national TV interview -- "They hate me, the Hispanic community, because they're afraid they're going to be arrested. And they're all leaving town, so I think we're doing something good, if they're leaving" -- also "speaks for itself," in Arpaio's opinion, according to this response.