Murder of Trayvon Martin similar to Murder of Luis Ramirez. DOJ should File same Federal Charges against Zimmerman!

If the NAACP is successful with their petition to have the Department of Justice file Federal Civil Rights Murder Charges against Zimmerman, the DOJ may use the same approach used in the Federal Trial against Brandon Piekarsky and Donchak when they killed Luis Ramirez in Shenandoah, PA on July 12, 2008. (I wrote about the trial extensively from 2008 - 2011 -- see here).

Though Piekarsky and Donchak were found Not Guilty of murder charges by their local court, the DOJ filed Federal Charges and they were found Guilty of their crimes. Here are the charges by the Federal Court:

"Brandon Piekarsky and Derrick Donchak were convicted in federal court for the brutal beating and eventual death of Luis Ramirez, a resident of the Defendants’ town.  The Defendants were charged with criminal violation of the Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. § 3631, which penalizes actions taken against an individual on account of his race, color or national origin, and with the specific intent to intimidate the victim or others like him from exercising their right to housing free of discrimination."

Ramirez was walking through a Park, walking his friend home when he was attacked. Like Ramirez, Trayvon was walking in his Father's subdivision on his way home from the store. The 911 tape shows Zimmerman calling Trayvon names.  According to the 911 tape:

Zimmerman: Suspicious Guy. Looks like he's up to no good. On drugs.. Looks Black. Wearing Dark Hoodie and tennis shoes. He's near the clubhouse. He's ... AND he's a Black Male. Button on his shirt. Somethings WRONG with him. He's got something in his hands. This asshole. They always get away. When you come to the clubhouse....Shit .. he's running. Entrance of neighborhood. Back entrance.

911 Operator: Are you following him? We don't need you to do that.


This is so similar to the Luis Ramirez Murder case. The local court found Piekarsky and Donchak Not Guilty of Murder Charges. The DOJ found them Guilty of "Criminal Violation of the Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. § 3631."

U.S. argues Arizona immigration law unconstitutional

Politico.com reports: In a brief filed Tuesday, the Justice Department asked the Supreme Court to find unconstitutional Arizona's law aimed at cracking down on illegal immigrants. "Petitioners assert that Arizona’s status as a border State that is particularly affected by illegal immigrationjustifies its adoption of its own policy directed to foreign nationals. But the framers recognized that the 'bordering States…will be those who, under the impulse of sudden irritation, and a quick sense of apparent interest or injury,' might take action that undermines relations with other nations, and regarded that possibility as a further reason to vest authority over foreign affairs in the National government," says the brief filed by Solicitor General Donald Verrilli.

The Framers' quote is from Federalist No. 3, written by John Jay. One interesting note about the U.S. Government brief: it was signed by State Department Legal Adviser (and former Yale Law School dean) Harold Koh, underscoring the foreign policy-related argument against the Arizona statute.

Arizona's opening brief is posted here. The case is set to be argued before the high court on April 25.

Ruben Navarette: Arpaio's Time Has Come!

SAN DIEGO -- Joe Arpaio has always been part Bull Connor, part Barney Fife. When the sheriff of Arizona's Maricopa County is not impersonating the commissioner of public safety in Birmingham, Ala., who symbolized bigotry during the civil rights movement, he sort of resembles the bumbling sheriff's deputy who patrolled Mayberry.

Arpaio has been that way for the 13 years that I've written about him, dating back to when I worked for The Arizona Republic newspaper in the late 1990s. That was a different Arizona. It depended on illegal immigrants; it did not despise them. Ever since the state declared open season last year on illegal immigrants and those who might be suspected of being one (read: Latinos), Arpaio has been attracting attention by hunting people with brown skin and Spanish accents.

Arpaio's critics accuse him of abusing his authority and discriminating against Latinos. Now that the Department of Justice and a U.S. District Court judge have consigned those charges -- and added more of their own -- at least those critics know they're not crazy. What they thought was happening might actually be happening.

In recent years, Arpaio has demonstrated an almost pathological desire to pick on Mexicans and Mexican-Americans. I tend to think it's not personal but more about targeting a group that he thinks he can get away with mistreating. Imagine the dust storm at the Arizona Chamber of Commerce if the Republican lawman stopped busting illegal immigrants and started padlocking businesses that employ them.

Like most bullies, Arpaio only picks on people who can't fight back. He is empowered by a population of voters in Maricopa County who obviously feel anxious over changing demographics and need to feel superior to someone. Those who come from south of the border -- or whose ancestors did -- fill this role.

When things go this wrong, the federal government has to make them right. After a three-year investigation, the Justice Department recently issued a scathing report that accused Arpaio's office of having a "pervasive culture of discriminatory bias against Latinos," engaging in "unconstitutional policing" that includes raids based on racially tinged citizen complaints and retaliating against critics.

Meanwhile, U.S. District Judge Murray Snow dealt Arpaio another blow in a case involving a civil rights lawsuit from 2007, in which sheriff's deputies were accused of racially profiling Latinos in immigration sweeps masquerading as traffic stops. In addition to issuing legal sanctions against Arpaio for destroying documents, Snow also barred the sheriff and his deputies from detaining people simply for being in the country illegally. The judge -- who criticized deputies for circulating emails that "compared Mexicans to dogs" -- certified the lawsuit as a class action that would cover all Latinos who have been "stopped, detained, questioned or searched" by Arpaio's officers.

It's about time this bill came due. Arpaio was bending the rules even before the Arizona Legislature passed a tough immigration law last year that requires local and state cops to enforce federal law. He used state anti-smuggling laws to round up illegal immigrants and then accused them of being co-conspirators with the smugglers. And he took full advantage of the federal 287(g) program that allows local law enforcement agencies that want to play Border Patrol agent to enter into agreements with Immigration and Customs Enforcement allowing them to do just that.

But it was when the immigration law passed that Arpaio really went into overdrive. The sheriff's office conducted vehicle checkpoints and raided businesses acting on tips from concerned citizens outraged that there were people -- gasp -- speaking Spanish on the premises.

Opponents of the law predicted this sort of thing would happen, and, for their trouble, they were accused of assuming that all local law enforcement officers were racist.

No, not racist. Just human, burdened with prejudices like anyone else. Given the task of finding illegal immigrants but lacking the training to do so, local law enforcement will instinctively focus on Latinos -- since most illegal immigrants in the United States are from Mexico and the rest of Latin America.

To many people, this is common sense. Yet, many of these same people also insist -- with a straight face -- that local law enforcement officers are not giving Latinos extra scrutiny and that everyone gets the same treatment. They made that ridiculous claim because the truth was too ugly to confront.

Now, they have no choice. It's gone too far. Too many people know. Confront it, they must.

DOJ Suing Arpaio for Refusing to Cooperate on his Abuse of Power Investigation. Now He's Crying Crocodile Tears!

azcentral.com reports:
Sheriff Joe Arpaio has been sued by the U.S. Justice Department for refusing to cooperate with a civil-rights probe into police practices and jail operations. Arpaio said the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Phoenix, is disappointing given that he and his office were cooperating on the federal probe. "I thought we were really close to getting this resolved," the sheriff said. (the Sheriff made this claim however previous reports indicate he has refused cooperation)

The lawsuit comes after weeks of the DOJ pleading for cooperation, threats to strip the county of federal funding, and a meeting in Washington last week among attorneys to discuss the investigation. A spokeswoman for the Justice Department has said this is the first time in the last 30 years that a police or sheriff's agency has refused to cooperate with a Title VI investigation. Thursday's action marks the first time the agency is suing to compel access to documents and facilities.

Since March 2009, the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division has been investigating Arpaio's operation amid accusations of discrimination and unconstitutional searches and seizures related to the sheriff's immigration-enforcement efforts. The investigation is being conducted under the authority of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which forbids discrimination related to programs that receive federal funds. The civil-rights probe is not related to a separate federal abuse-of-power investigation of Arpaio's office that has been the subject of grand-jury testimony. In the 1990s the Justice Department investigated Arpaio for civil rights abuses in Maricopa County Jails and then, he cooperated, leading to a consent decree to change certain jail conditions.

Arpaio's initial decision not to cooperate with this investigation has led the Sheriff's Office and the Justice Department into uncharted territory. But Arpaio has changed course in recent weeks, implying that his office is trying to cooperate with federal civil-rights investigators. "Can't they wait another week?" Arpaio asked. "Why can't they give us a little more time." "I thought we were really close to getting this thing resolved.

Arpaio appeared with Arizona Sen. Russell Pearce and Rep. Steve Montenegro (two other ANTI CIR zealots) at a press conference Thursday to promote a political non-profit group the men are affiliated with, but he quickly found the event dominated by news that the federal government had sued his agency. "They can sue me but as Russell always says, 'take the handcuffs off the cops'," Arpaio said. "I'm not going to be intimidated by the federal government going to court against us." The sheriff's failure to cooperate could cost the county millions of dollars of federal funding. Last year, the county received $113 million in federal funds, according to county records; of that, the Sheriff's Office received $3.8 million. County officials must agree that they will not discriminate in order to receive those funds.

Arpaio believes the inquiry is focused on his immigration sweeps, patrols where deputies flood an area of a city — in some cases heavily Latino areas — to seek out traffic violators and arrest other offenders. Critics say his deputies pull people over for minor traffic infractions because of the color of their skin so they can ask them for their proof of citizenship. Arpaio denies allegations of racial profiling despite the blatantly obvious proof, suggesting people are stopped if deputies may have probable cause to believe they've committed crimes and supposedly that it's only afterward that deputies find many of them may be illegal immigrants. The sheriff's office has said only half of the 1,032 people arrested in the sweeps have been suspected of illegal immigration.

Last year, the federal government stripped Arpaio of his special power to enforce federal immigration law due to his abuse of power and racial profiling accusations. The sheriff continued his sweeps through the enforcement of state immigration laws.

Last year, the nearly $113 million that the county received from the federal government accounted for about 5 percent of the county's $2 billion budget. Arpaio's office said it receives $3 million to $4 million each year in federal funds.

In a separate investigation, a federal grand jury in Phoenix is examining allegations that Arpaio has abused his powers with actions such as intimidating county workers by showing up at their homes at nights and on weekends.

DOJ Breathing Hard Down Arpaio's Neck re: Racial Profiling Indictment

Joe Arpaio Gets New Deadline from DOJ; County Offers Its Subpoena Power To Feds

The U.S. Department of Justice has given Sheriff Joe Arpaio a deadline in his Racial Profiling/Abuse of Power Charges. The deadline to produce required documents is September 10. To date, Arpaio has been non-compliant with the investigation. The DOJ has put it's foot down. They want access to various records, MCSO facilities, and MCSO employees, particularly for the ACLU's lawsuit Melendres vs. Arpaio, which is still ongoing and alleges a pattern of racial profiling by the MCSO during their controversial anti-immigrant sweeps in Latino neighborhoods. The DOJ asked for a "clear and unequivocal agreement to cooperate" no later than the close of business September 10.

The Melendres vs Arpaio case is significant. The complaint goes to the heart of the DOJ indictment - Racial Profiling of Latino Neighborhoods and disparate treatment for people of color. READ THE COMPLAINT. There are multiple plaintiffs in this case, including: Manuel Melendres - a Legal Visitor from Mexico, Jessica and David Rodriguez - Legal Citizens, Manuel Nieto - Legal Resident and Somos America who speaks for numerous Latinos who the complaint says were racially profiled during suppression sweeps by Arpaio and his masked volunteers in Latino neighborhoods in Maricopa County.

The DATE is set - September 10. That is Arpaio's deadline set by the DOJ to produce documents. However Arpaio's lawyer (shaking in his boots & knowing Arpaio's culpability) is resisting. Regardless the resistance, Officials in Maricopa County are offering the DOJ assistance.

At stake are federal funds received by Maricopa County. These are governed by Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which "prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin in programs receiving federal financial assistance," the DOJ's Web site explains. According to Maricopa County Communications Director Cari Gerchick, the county receives around $113 million dollars in Federal Aid, including $50 million that goes to public health programs. All this could potentially be in jeopardy because of Arpaio's defiance of the DOJ.

Indeed, the county is so eager for Arpaio to play ball with the Feds that it recently fired off a letter to the DOJ offering to help by using the Board of Supervisors' subpoena power to force the MCSO to comply. County Manager David Smith advised Arpaio of its letter to the DOJ on August 12. In Smith's letter to Arpaio, he tells the MCSO that "it may not expend any public funds, including expenses for outside counsel, to resist any DOJ Title VI inquiry." Smith warns Arpaio that the county "will not pay any invoices for attorneys who assist you in any effort to resist a Title VI inquiry."

It is no wonder Driscoll replied so quickly to the Smith letter. In a snitty hate-gram sent via e-mail (read it, here), Driscoll snapped that Arpaio "does not report to you, or to the Board of Supervisors."

Now the stage is set. The DOJ has laid down the gauntlet. Arpaio and his attorneys have until Sept. 10, 2010 to respond. Let them produce the documentation. Let the DOJ sift through their documents. Then LET'S INDICT THE EVIL SHERIFF & HIS MASKED GOONS AND LET THEM SPEND YEARS IN THEIR OWN DEPLORABLE PRISON CONDITIONS!

Gov Jan "La Bruja" Brewer Cries Crocodile Tears Because her Racial Profiling Bill is on International Report

HP Reports:
Gov. Jan "La Bruja" Brewer stomped her foot Friday saying a reference to the state's controversial racial profiling sb10708 law be removed from a State Department report to the United Nations' human rights commissioner. The U.S. included its legal challenge to the law on a list of ways the federal government is protecting human rights.

In a cry-baby letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Brewer wailed it is "downright offensive" that her (and Arpaio's) rampant racial profiling law would be included in the report, which was drafted as part of a UN review of human rights in all member nations every four years. "The idea that our own AZ Racial Profiling law being submitted to 'review' by the United Nations is internationalism run amok and unconstitutional," Brewer wrote.

Arizona's law generally requires police, like arpaio and his masked goons, go to latino neighborhoods to supposedly enforce other laws during their suppression sweeps of latino neighborhoods to investigate the immigration status of people they suspect are illegal immigrants.

Arpaio routinely targets Latino neighborhoods during his suppression sweeps of Latino neighborhoods. Raicst and extremist supporters of sb1070, including Brewer, say the law prohibits racial profiling and other human rights abuses.

The U.S. Justice Department sued to block the measure, arguing federal law trumps the state's authority to enforce immigration laws. A federal judge in July sided with the Justice Department and blocked enforcement of the law's most controversial provisions a day before it was scheduled to take effect.

Update: Turns out La Bruja's foot stomping was just a media stunt. Here is the statement she was supposedly so upset about: "A recent Arizona law, S.B. 1070, has generated significant attention and debate at home and around the world. The issue is being addressed in a court action that argues that the federal government has the authority to set and enforce immigration law. That action is ongoing; parts of the law are currently enjoined." Looks like La Bruja was just trying to get attention and sympathy for her cause.. over nothing!

The Dept. of Justice gives Arpaio DEADLINE in Abuse of Power/Racial Profiling Case

AP Reports: WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) says an Arizona sheriff known for his (abuse of power and racial profiling) efforts against (latino neighborhoods and so called) illegal immigrants has refused to cooperate with a civil rights investigation and the Department of Justice is threatening to sue. Since March 2009, the U.S. Justice Department has been investigating Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's office in Phoenix for alleged discrimination and for unconstitutional searches and seizures. Arpaio says the inquiry is focused on his immigration efforts.

In a letter, assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez gave the arpaio until Aug. 17 to turn over documents first requested last year in an inquiry into Arpaio's discrimination based on national origin. (Racial Profiling & Abuse of Power).

Breaking News: DOJ to Bring a Lawsuit Against sb1070