05 Nov 08

Sheriff Arpaio Wins Re-election

PHOENIX (AP) -- Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio -- who embraces the "Toughest Sheriff in America" title -- rolled to victory in his fifth general election on Tuesday.

Arpaio was facing what was considered his strongest re-election challenge in years from Democrat Dan Saban, a former sheriff's deputy, Mesa police officer and Buckeye police chief.

But Arpaio beat Saban 56 percent to 41 percent with 80 percent of the precincts reporting.

Saban failed in an earlier effort to wrest the office in the state's most populous county from Arpaio, who's known for his tent city jail, where he outfits prisoners in pink underwear, feeds them green bologna and has them work on chain gangs.

In the past year, Arpaio has gotten headlines for crime sweeps that target illegal immigration, which resulted in scores of arrests after traffic stops and other minor infractions. Arpaio's office turned any arrested illegal immigrants over to federal authorities for deportation.

The tactics brought outrage from some quarters but support from residents upset about the government's failure to deal with illegal immigration.

Arpaio has been in office for 16 years and never faced a major re-election challenge.

How many more unsentenced inmates will the Arpaio regime murder now he has another four years?

Email comments to writeinside@hotmail.com or post them below

Shaun P. Attwood

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

You have no idea (well maybe you do a little), about how sick to my stomach I am with the re-election of that piece of shit Ar-pie-hole...

The only keeping my head up is the fact that OBAMA is or President Elect.. GOBAMA !!!!

Josh

Unknown said...

I voted "no for Joe" yesterday. The gangs can go back to running the jails now.

Anonymous said...

3? Hang on, maybe 4, I'm going with 4.

Sue O. (aka Joannie, SS) said...

It seems like people vote for what they are used to in smaller precincts. We have one congressman who obviously has funneled public money to relatives in the form of cushy jobs and perks, and he's re-elected time after time. It was a hot contest, PA's 11th district, between incumbent Paul Kanjorski and Lou Barletta-who made national news with his strong anti-illegal alien stance. It was close but no cigar. Kanjorski it is. The huge office building that bears his name in downtown Nanticoke is now a skater haven. The jobs left long ago.

Anonymous said...

If you don't like the way he runs his jails, then don't visit them.

Terese said...

Obviously no one is in a great hurry to visit his jails, you sound unintelligent with such a comment. Arpaio doesn't know how to treat people as human beings, and that is just ONE of the major problems that exist in Maricopa's legal and jail system. I hope his old age will prevent him from completing these four years to come.

Anonymous said...

Things with Saban regarding the jail system wouldn't be much different.

Anonymous said...

Kendra,
He treats people as human and offers them the rights that they are afforded by the letter of the law. That may not be popular with the inmates but clearly the people he was elected to represent are happy with the job he is doing based on the number of times he has been re-elected. Sorry, but people in jail aren't the most likely to draw support from the voting public,

Terese said...

If treating people as human beings includes beating inmates to death, allowing them to beat each other to death, and denying them the RIGHT to basic medical care, then I suppose you're right, however I tend to disagree. Just because someone is convicted of a crime doesn't mean they are necessarily guilty, nor does it mean they deserve to be treated as an animal.

The reason he continues to get re-elected is partially due to the fact that the other candidates do not campaign enough, but it is largely due to the fact that the public is unaware of what REALLY happens behind those closed doors. If they knew of the laws being broken by Arpaio and his deputies, they would vote for him. The tragedy is that there is so much corruption within his office, that it prevents the public from knowing the truth.

People in jail aren't responsible for drawing support from the public, the public is responsible for keeping themselves informed on what is going in their community to ensure crooks like Arpaio don't remain in office. As I stated previously, there is too much corruption in his office. Those who are involved in, and work within the legal field tend to be aware of this, those who don't, are under the illusion that he is doing good for the community, and vote to keep him in office.

Anonymous said...

"How many more unsentenced inmates will the Arpaio regime murder now he has another four years?"

aha, a trick question.

and of course, the answer is, "as many as he wants to..."

Anonymous said...

"anonymous" who is defending the system.......

Why are you posting as anonymous? Those of us who have valid opinions are not afraid of using our names or linking to our websites.

Worried about your job? Don't worry, if you stay loyal to the asshole I'm sure he'll appreciate it.

It's people like you that make me ashamed to call myself American.

Sue O. (aka Joannie, SS) said...

Well spoken, Kendra. My son has practically memorized the prison rule book where he is, and still arbitrary nature of treatment makes it very difficult for even those who want to do the time they were sentenced to, do it in a manner that keeps them out of trouble. There is no bottom line it seems.

Altissima said...

Outrageous. And i just read this grim article about an inmate who's baby died due to poor medical attention in Arpaio's jail.
Phoenix New Times: Arpaio’s Jail Staff Cost Ambrett Spencer Her Baby, and She’s Not the Only One

Altissima said...

Outrageous. And i just read this grim article about an inmate who's baby died due to poor medical attention in Arpaio's jail.
Phoenix New Times: Arpaio’s Jail Staff Cost Ambrett Spencer Her Baby, and She’s Not the Only One