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Geneva Conventions, which prohibit, among other things, humiliation of prisoners.
This guy does not even rise to the level of pond scum.
From Arpaio's wiki:
His practices have been criticized by organizations such as Amnesty International,<3> the American Civil Liberties Union, the Arizona Ecumenical Council, the American Jewish Committee, and the Arizona chapter of the Anti-Defamation League.<4>
Arpaio began to serve inmates surplus food including outdated and oxidized GREEN bologna<13> and limited meals to twice daily<14> (caps are mine)
and
Arpaio set up a "Tent City" as an extension of the Maricopa County Jail (33°25′40″N 112°07′26″W / 33.42778°N 112.12389°W / 33.42778; -112.12389 (Maricopa County Jail)). Many prisons and jails throughout the United States have used, and continue to use, tents to house inmates.<18> Tent City is located in a yard next to a more permanent structure containing toilets, showers, an area for meals, and a day room.<19> It has become notable particularly because of Phoenix's extreme temperatures. Daytime temperatures inside the tents have been reported as high as 150 degrees in the top bunks.<20> During the summer, fans and water are supplied in the tents
and
Webcasts of pretrial detainees
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 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.<32> 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:
... 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, "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.<33><34>
and
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<46>; 50 times as many prison-conditions lawsuits as the New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Houston jail systems combined.<48>
Arpaio is named in a class-action lawsuit, Hart v. Arpaio, brought by Phoenix attorney Debra Hill and the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of jail inmates. The lawsuit centers on the treatment of pretrial detainees, who are legally innocent until proven guilty. The lawsuit claims that Arpaio is violating the constitutional rights of those detainees. The trial in the lawsuit began on August 12, 2008.<46><49>
By mid-2007, more than $50 million in claims had been filed against the sheriff's office and Maricopa County.
and
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. <46> <51[br />
and
Alleged harassment of New Times reporter
On June 11, 2008, Ray Stern, a reporter for the Phoenix New Times, was surrounded and intimidated by several deputies while trying to examine public records at the City of Phoenix public records counter.<71> Stern called City Attorney Gary Verburg, who came down and instructed the deputies that Stern had the right to view the records. The deputies then threatened to simply arrest Stern on the spot. Later, a city "conflict resolution manager" walked up and laid down an Arizona law book. She pointed to the section of public records law that essentially says anyone can look at any public record during business hours. City Attorney Verburg told the deputies again that Stern had the right to look at any public record. Upon hearing that, the deputies warned Stern again that if he tried to look at the documents he would be arrested.<72>
The events reported by the New Times are substantively verified in a memo drafted by Maricopa County Sheriff's Office Commander James Miller. In this memo, Miller states that the deputies did threaten to arrest Stern if he touched any of the records, and that he (Miller) held one of the records out in front of Stern, saying "take it", to create a pretense to arrest Stern. Miller also reported that the situation escalated into a standoff with the Phoenix Police, when they warned him not to attempt to arrest Stern.<73>
Also according to wiki, this knuckle dragger won his election by better than 55%. I wonder if the good folk of his state realize how much money he costs them, both for his police state tactics and for all the damages they pay in lawsuits due to his civil rights violations, many of which have caused wrongful death.
And Napolitano's replacement just gave him another million.
IMO, Obama should not have appointed any governor to his cabinet unless the Lt. Governor of his or her state was also a competent Democrat, especially in red and purple states. It cannot be THAT hard to find 50 or so great Dems without raiding the states.
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