By Mike Levine
On August 17, 2010 @ 6:45 PM In Immigration
According to a Justice Department official, things are on hold pending a meeting set for next Tuesday in Washington with Justice Department officials and lawyers for Arpaio, whose office is under investigation by the Justice Department for alleged civil rights violations. Arpaio has become a controversial figure over what some say are overly aggressive tactics to fight illegal immigration in Arizona.
In a letter dated Aug. 3, the head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, Tom Perez, accused Arpaio of failing to cooperate with the department's investigation, warning that, "Absent [your office's] voluntary cooperation with this investigation within two weeks -- by August 17, 2010 -- the Department will file a Title VI civil action to compel access to the requested documents, facilities, and personnel."
Under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, law enforcement programs receiving federal assistance cannot discriminate on the basis of race or national origin, and those in charge of the programs promise to operate in accordance with all requirements.
Lawyers for Arpaio recently requested a conference with Justice Department officials to discuss the matter. A conference call was set up for Aug. 17, the day of the deadline, but then both sides agreed to an in-person meeting a week later, according to the Justice Department official. On Monday, the day before the deadline, Justice Department lawyers decided to make no decisions about further action until the in-person meeting, the official said.
The Justice Department launched its investigation in March 2009, telling Arpaio in letters at the time that the "investigation will focus on alleged patterns or practices of discriminatory police practices and unconstitutional searches and seizures conducted by the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, and on allegations of national origin discrimination, including failure to provide meaningful access to MCSO services for limited English proficient individuals." In addition, the Justice Department said, the investigation will look at allegations that Maricopa County Sheriff's Office "has an English-only policy in its jails," including a requirement that even bilingual detention officers "speak to inmates in English at all times, except in case of an emergency."
While Arpaio's office subsequently provided some documents, it has largely refused to meet the Justice Department's requests. Arpaio has criticized the investigation as politically motivated.
Still, two days after Perez sent his letter threatening to sue Arpaio, the sheriff's lawyers insisted Arpaio "has made good faith efforts to cooperate with the Division's Title VI investigation."
"Furthermore, [the office] stands ready and willing to meet and confer with the Division to address any concerns that the Division might have with regard to [their] cooperation and production of documents related to the investigation of the complaint that forms the basis of the Title VI investigation," attorney Robert Driscoll wrote.
Arpaio's lawyers argue that their client is legally required to cooperate with a "limited portion" of the Justice Department's investigation, the portion looking at "allegations of national origin discrimination." But, they say, Arpaio is not obligated to comply with requests not covered by Title VI, particularly requests related to "alleged patterns or practices of discriminatory police practices and unconstitutional searches and seizures conducted by the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office."
Meanwhile, a grand jury in Phoenix is looking into separate matters related to Arpaio's tenure as sheriff.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Article printed from Liveshots: http://liveshots.blogs.foxnews.com
URL to article: http://liveshots.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/08/17/doj-holds-off-on-suing-arpaio-for-now/
.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Keep it civil -