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Friday, October 4, 2013

How To Sheriff Joe from Racist Profiling


"A federal judge on Wednesday ordered the appointment of an independent monitor and a community advisory board to ensure that an Arizona sheriff is complying with constitutional requirements after finding his office engages in racial profiling."*



PHOENIX -- PHOENIX (AP) — A federal judge on Wednesday ordered the appointment of an independent monitor and a community advisory board to ensure that an Arizona sheriff is complying with constitutional requirements after finding his office engages in racial profiling.

U.S. District Judge Murray Snow found in May that the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office and Sheriff Joe Arpaio singled out Latinos and deputies unreasonably prolonged detentions.

It was the first finding by a court that the agency covering Arizona's most populous county engages in racial profiling after a small group of Latinos sued the sheriff's office for violating their constitutional rights, saying they were being detained simply because of their race.

Snow had delayed ordering remedies in the case to allow time for both parties to reach agreements, but disputes over key issues prevented consensus.

In his ruling Wednesday, Snow ordered that a monitor be appointed to oversee the agency's re-training of deputies and ensure the office is complying with constitutional requirements. Snow also ordered the creation of a community advisory board aimed at helping restore the public's confidence, among other remedies.

"In conducting its activities, MCSO shall ensure that members of the public receive equal protection of the law, without discriminating based on actual or perceived race or ethnicity, and in a manner that promotes public confidence," Snow wrote.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which is working on behalf of the plaintiffs, hailed the ruling as a victory.

"Today's order is really going to put some sunlight into the corners of the MCSO that have been such a problem in terms of people's civil rights. It's a great day," said ACLU lawyer Cecillia Wang.

Arpaio's office had vehemently opposed the appointment of a monitor, arguing it would mean every one of his policy decisions would have to be cleared through the observer and would nullify his authority.

"I have received a copy of the court order and I am in the process of discussing it with our attorneys," Arpaio said in a statement. "We are identifying areas that are ripe for appeal. To be clear, the appointed monitor will have no veto authority over my duties or operations. "

Arpaio's lawyer, Tim Casey, said he was still reviewing the 59-page order, but noted he was "pleased with its very moderate sensible tone."

"The sheriff is still in exclusive charge of the MCSO," Casey said, adding their concern all along was that the monitor would have too much authority.

"The monitor cannot tell us what to do or not to do," Casey said, referring to the monitor's role in the ruling as overseeing training and procedures, among other things. "The court will make the ultimate decision on whether or not the MCSO is in compliance with its order, and we're very pleased with that."

The judge's order also mandates that the sheriff's office install audio and video recording devices in patrol vehicles and requires deputies to notify dispatch of the reason they are making a traffic stop prior to contacting the vehicle's driver "unless exigent circumstances make it unsafe or impracticable."

Arpaio's attorneys had resisted the latter, telling the judge such an added measure would be burdensome and risky for deputies.

"That's an area that we remain concerned about," Casey said Wednesday.

However, he added, the "exigent circumstances exception might help solve that problem."

Snow's ruling doesn't altogether bar Arpaio, 81, from enforcing the state's immigration laws, but it does impose a long list of restrictions on the sheriff's patrols, some of which focused heavily on Latino areas in the county.

The ruling prohibited the selection of "particular communities, locations or geographic areas for targeted traffic enforcement based to any degree on the racial or ethnic composition of the community."

The order also prohibits using race as a factor in deciding whether to stop a vehicle with a Latino occupant or detaining Latino passengers only on the suspicion that they're in the country illegally.

The U.S. Justice Department filed a similar lawsuit last year that also alleges racial profiling by Arpaio's office. Its suit, however, claims broader civil rights violations, such as allegations that Arpaio's agency retaliates against its critics and punishes Latino jail inmates with limited English skills for speaking Spanish. Arpaio has denied the claims.

Sometimes cases are so horrific.. we feature them although, they are not the Black community: RIP Michael Patrick Lass & Kelly Thomas (You're Killing Me! Was a police-related jailhouse death an accident or a homicide?)


The recent police-related deaths of 43-year-old Allen Kephart in Lake Arrowhead, California and 37-year-old Kelly Thomas in Fullerton, California have sent shockwaves through the their respective communities. Indeed, both are being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The death of Thomas, a homeless schizophrenic beaten into a coma by Fullerton police, is also being investigated by the Orange County District Attorney's Office. His case is not the first time Orange County law enforcement has been accused of applying excessive force to a mentally ill homeless man.

In October 2007, 28-year-old Michael Patrick Lass was living on the streets of Santa Ana when police stopped him for having an open container of alcohol. At the time of his arrest he was alcohol-dependent, schizophrenic, bipolar, and had a history of seizures.

The altercation that led to Lass's death took place at the Orange County Central Jail, where Lass was sentenced to serve five days after pleading guilty to public intoxication. The day Lass would have been able to leave he felt ill and asked for medical attention. Lass was ordered to leave his cell and after repeatedly looking over his shoulder while being directed by a deputy, he was tackled to the ground and a melee ensued. 

"He wasn't fighting or anything and he was already in a contained area, locked in a contained area," Lass's father Frederick, says of the incident. "Immediately there was a second deputy there, a third deputy, a fourth, a fifth, and on and on it went. There was so many deputies that you couldn't count how many deputies were there."

Lass was shocked with a Taser nine times and the county's autopsy said he had multiple contusions on his body, "involving the head, neck, torso and extremities." The struggle was captured on film. "I can remember viewing the film and at one point while they are beating him Michael tells them, 'You're killing me.' Literally: 'You're killing me'," says Frederick Lass.

Frederick Lass sued Orange County and six deputies involved in the incident. Although neither was found liable in that case, Orange County later revised its Taser policy so that deputies would not be able to use Tasers on restrained suspects unless they display "overtly assaultive behavior."

While an improvement, the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California says the policy didn't go far enough. Executive Director Hector Villagra sent a letter to Sheriff Hutchens in January 2009 urging still-stricter use of Tasers, pointing to five people who have died since 2005 after being stung with the weapon.

Like the cases of Allen Kephart and Kelly Thomas, the death while in custody of Michael Patrick Lass raises troubling questions about police procedures - and the power of surveillance videos to shine a bright light on the workings of the criminal justice system.

The following video includes graphic violence and viewer discretion is advised.

Written and produced by Paul Detrick. Camera: Paul Detrick, Zach Weissmueller, and Alex Manning; edited by Detrick.

Special Thanks: Frederick Lass.

Music by Audionautix.com.

Go to http://www.reason.tv for downloadable versions of this and all our videos, and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube Channel to receive automatic notification when new content is posted.

NYPD Cops Caught Beating Black Man half to Death !


On this night, I come across a group of cops from the 44th precinct in the Bronx employing their illegal Stop and Frisk tactic to meet their monthly arrest quota. After observing a Latino male being arrested for nothing, I drove 3 blocks down... only to hear a man crying out for help.

I pulled over and saw a group of NYPD cops kicking and punching someone who was laying on the ground as I fumbled with my camera bag trying to record what could be this man's last breathes.

It is clear to me by now that black people will never receive any justice in America; we were fooled into believing that slavery ended and we would be treated equal and be able to live in peace. My people should have returned to the land from which they came and spared their children the hell we now live in under racist Ku Klux Klan members posing as police ! 

My Facebook and Twitter links are here, please friend me and follow for important information : http://nycresistance.blogspot.com/

Also donate if you can, I built a new computer, but I am still in need of extremely important equipment and need your help to achieve my goals.

If you have already donated it was you that made the computer build possible, I can't thank you enough. I am going to start another video and I will post it soon. Thank you for your support; Nycresistance