She Thinks She’s In Chicago

I don't claim to know anything about the DA race, but how about we make the DA an appointed position?

I've never understood why police chiefs, fire chiefs, and coroners are appointed whereas sheriffs and DA's are often elected. Don't we want full-time professionals in those departmental leadership positions free from the distractions of politics?

Every American county has different statutes but generally Sheriffs are always elected. Not so sure about DA's though. Elections test the fortitude and character of the candidates, the stability of the current public environment and the ethics of individual. They are messy affairs...as they should be. Indeed, voters make their selections largely on their evaluation of a how a candidate maneuvers through the campaign.

For example, take Sheriff Joe Arpaio. He is routinely re-elected with over 85% of the vote. He does his job and does it extremely well. He has the complete support of the people. But the Phoenix Mayor and his administration always tries to hinder his efforts strictly along ideological grounds. If it was a political position I can guarantee you that that position would be filled with just another politician without the testicular fortitude to do what is right, nor responsive to the general population. Daniel Petry

The man who so thrills my good friend "jcrdan" has an interesting relationship with the laws he is elected to uphold and enforce:

"PHOENIX — The Maricopa County sheriff [Joe Arpaio], who has drawn scorn and praise for a running crackdown on illegal immigrants in this city’s metropolitan area, said Tuesday that federal officials had taken away his deputies’ authority to make immigration arrests in the field."
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/07/us/07a...

binky, I do so love your subservience to any cause promoted by such a balanced news paper and stipulated by your masters in Wash D.C. That 10th Amendment, and the uneducated voter can be so inconvenient. Best to let binky and his ilk decide.

Sheriff Joe was elected by the people of Maricopa. Not you. ICE has limited his ability to support their Section 287(g) program in the field, but use it within his jail. He is now using a 1996 federal law, that allows officials to detain someone if that person is in the country illegally. Arizona State law also allows him to break up human smuggling operations. He is effective, and that REALLY pisses off those that are not. Both in Wash D.C. and in Santa Barbara.

Now as to the venerable New York times. Item: In discussing the sheriff’s employment of Section 287(g) of the INA, the editorial states that his 160 federally-trained deputies are augmented by “what the sheriff says, without apology, is a 3,000 member ‘posse.’” The paper goes on to quote the sheriff saying that posse members are armed, while stating that the sheriff had “grossly violated” the terms of 287(g). The implication is that this is somehow a danger - all those gun-crazy cowboys running around, violating civil rights, shooting up the town. Yee ha!

Fact: In the long history of the Maricopa County posse, no posse member has ever shot anyone. Fact: All that scary stuff - “airplanes, jeeps, motorcycles,” etc., are more often used in search-and-rescue operations. But why would the Times, or binky, bother to know that? And why would the Times, and binky, understand that citizens volunteering to help protect their communities does not pose a quasi-fascist threat, nor require an “apology,” but rather stands as a proud tradition and an essential civic function. Oops, sorry progressives, there I go again talking about nasty traditions.

The editorial states that Sheriff Joe has “ignored tens of thousands of outstanding criminal warrants while chasing” illegal’s. Sound bad? Fact: Of the seventy thousand warrants outstanding in Maricopa 30,000 are for misdemeanors. The remaining 40,000 are divided amongst 19 police agencies in the county, out of which the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office issued approximately 1,500. What is most condescending about binky's and the Times’ position is that elected officials in Arizona like Sheriff Joe, who has been elected four times, closing in on number five, with approval ratings consistently the highest in the state, hovering around 80% - darn those ignorant locals, are not qualified to take action to protect the state and its citizens. The Times wants Congress to hold hearings on the 287(g) agreement between the locals and the feds, “starting with a subpoena for Sheriff Joe.” Clearly, according to the Times, and binky, average citizens don’t know what we are doing, and can’t be trusted with our own fate. We need the feds (binky) to tell us what’s best for us. Daniel Petry

As I thought about those that believe the NYT is something to be honored and cherished; I couldn't resist this seconf post.

Progressives have an arrogance that is truly sad. For example the New York Times is in deep financial trouble. So we get this kind of dribble from the soft minds that wander it's hallways.

New York Times Executive Editor Bill Keller stated that "saving the New York Times now ranks with saving Darfur as a high-minded cause."

High minded as in pretentious and disgusting! It is unbelievable that anyone could be so egotistical and possess such unbridled arrogance to put starving to death and genocide on a plane with a failing bird cage liner.

So if you are asking me to validate, or respect, any quote you post from the NYT....go pound sand. Because you are truly lost in the forest. Daniel Petry

Sherriff Joe in Arizona is quite a character. Running a tight ship (prison) and cutting costs like crazy. Allows only two meals a day to save on delivery costs. Has the meals down to between 15 and 40 cents a meal, and the prisoners are charged a "stipend" of one dollar a day for the meals.
Oh, no coffee-saves Joe $94,000 + a year eliminating that item.

Prisoners are issued state of the art underwear, socks and blankets- in PINK. They work in chain gangs doing cleanups and road work in temperatures as high as 138 degrees. They earn 28 cents an hour for their work.

He has done a good service to the animals in his area and set up a no-kill facility shelter and the prisoners care for the animals. The animals are well treated, probably better than the prisoners.

When the prisoners complain, he tells them then they should not come back. Now that makes sense.

Joe is either lauded or derided--no grey areas in feelings for this guy. He is a law unto himself. And probably on his way to another term. Google this guy, Joe Arapaio, for some interesting facts.

But this article is about Stanley, and it would be better if she would just retire now. She should not be pulling the strings of a puppet.

Agreed.

What would it take to force our sheriff and police departments enforce 287(g)? Assuming the city councils and BOS would have nothing to do with it could this be done with a citizen intitiative?

Gordo, the portion of ICE you cite is not law, it is an agreement to allow cooperation between local law enforcement and the Feds, to avoid any Constitutional conflict and defined the limits and responsibilities of the partnership. (You can find more here:
Delegation of Immigration Authority Section 287(g)
Immigration and Nationality Act
http://www.ice.gov/partners/287g/Section... )

It is a program to be requested, not a law to be enforced.

Gordo...binky is correct - partially. You can think of 287g as an aspect of Federal deputation of a local law enforcement organization. It has a number of aspects to it that allow the strained, and politicized, resources of ICE to operate more effectively. Even in its weakened state it is still being used within the Arizona jail system.

When utilized it is an extremely effective tool for the control and eradication of illegals within a community. Due to the fact that ICE is unable to protect the citizens of Maricopa County, MCSO has been extremely successful in using it to crush illegal smugglers, illegal drop houses and kidnapping rings.

The drug cartels are waging an undeclared war with Arizona law enforcement and 287g was just one weapon against them. Fortunately Arizonans are strong believers in the 10th Amendment and have learned, from being burned by the Feds in the past, that they must fend for themselves. Strong laws were passed designed especially to allow State law enforcement officers to protect their residents from illegals. Those laws are now in full force and Sheriff Joe is just rolling on. Daniel Petry