Repulsive Slime Ball

I read an article detailing the Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio and his repeated abuses of power. In addition, due to the recurring class action law suits and the Justice Department suing him for civil rights violations, he has cost the county tens-of-millions of dollars. The article can be found here, and a Wikipedia article about him can be found here.

Joe Arpaio claims to be "America's toughest sheriff." Indeed he often imprisons criminals in internment style tent cities in the blistering New Mexico sun at the height of summer. That is cruel and, unless we are living in the Dark Age, unusual punishment. In addition, he is guilty of unprecedented racial profiling and many other violations of fundamental constitutional rights.

By far the most egregious aspect of Joe Arpaio's service (or rather disservice) is the lack of "toughness" in any other area of the law other than immigration, conventional violent crimes, and property crimes. Specifically, Arpaio consistently fails to adequately investigate sex crimes, which is in my opinion the most pernicious form of crime. 

For example, Sabrina Morrison, a thirteen year old mentally challenged individual, was raped by her uncle. The next day she informed her teacher, a rape kit was taken and sent in for testing, and a detective was assigned to the case. However, the detective, disregarding the rape kit, concluded that there was no signs of rape so therefore it didn't happen.

The rape kit detected signs of semen and was sent to the sheriffs office requesting a blood sample from Sabrina's uncle, Patrick Morrison. The detective, with authorization from Arpaio, ignored the semen sample and closed the case for four years. The uncle continued to rape and otherwise sexually assault Sabrina.

Four years after the case was closed the sheriff's office gathered the blood sample from Patrick Morrison. It was a DNA match with the four year old semen sample from the original rape kit. So, Patrick Morrison was charged with one (that's right only one) account of sexual conduct with a minor (not even rape). The sheriff's office then closed the case. 

It wasn't until a victim's advocate got the charges increased that other charges were included. Patrick Morrison pled guilty. He was sentenced to 24 years in prison. Currently, Sabrina Morrison is filling a lawsuit against the sheriff's office and Joe Arpaio for gross negligence.

So, not only does Joe Arpaio violate people's constitutional rights and cost the county he works for tens-of-millions of dollars, he also isn't even a good sheriff.