The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative
Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other
shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org.
March 12, 2009

Justice Dept. Opens Civil Rights Probe of Arizona Sheriff
---------------------------------------------------------



After months of growing scrutiny, the Justice Department has launched a
civil rights probe of Arizona’s Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
Arpaio has been accused of overseeing a discriminatory enforcement of
federal immigration laws. He recently made headlines for parading a
group of chained undocumented prisoners through the streets of Phoenix
before transferring them to the infamous Tent City jail. Last year, a
group of Latino activists in Arizona filed a lawsuit accusing Arpaio of
racial profiling. The Arpaio investigation is believed to be the Justice
Department’s first related to immigration enforcement.



.