Dear DOJ: Arpaio and Goons Caught Breaking the Law AGAIN! Please Arrest Him and Shut Down his Heinous Jails!

Arpaio and his masked goon squad have been caught breaking the law AGAIN! He racially profiled and wrongfully arrested Latino American Citizens with NO CAUSE and without reading them their Miranda Rights. Even the Judge and the District Attorney agree. Dept. of Justice, it is time for you to step in and ARREST Arpaio and shut down his UNLAWFUL Jails!
PNT reports:
Salvador Reza Released, Prosecutor Admits No Probable Cause for Arrest
As civil rights leader Salvador Reza stood in stripes before a night court judge around 3:30 a.m. this morning at the Fourth Avenue Jail in downtown Phoenix, the county prosecutor made an eye-popping admission. "This is really my review," he stated cautiously of a statement from the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office before him. "I did not see that this rose to the level of probable cause." Reza's attorney Robert Pastor immediately pounced. "Your honor," said Pastor, "I just heard the prosecutor tell the court that there's not enough evidence here to suggest that Mr. Reza committed a crime. I ask that the charge be dismissed and he be released immediately."

Of Reza's bogus charge for "obstructing a judicial proceeding," the judge herself seemed skeptical. "I do not have enough information to find probable cause in this matter, sir," she told the county attorney. She declined to dismiss the charge, but she released Reza on his own recognizance and set his next court date for August 18.
Reza, leader of the organization Puente, had been arrested late Friday afternoon after watching a band of protesters engage in civil disobedience by blocking Sheriff Joe Arpaio's command post for the MCSO's latest anti-immigrant sweep. The post was located near 35th Avenue and Lower Buckeye, close to the Lower Buckeye Jail. Reza was across the street in an unpaved parking lot.

Though Reza was not participating in civil disobedience that day, a pack of aggro sheriff's deputies ran across 35th Avenue and arrested him. Arpaio, MCSO Chief Brian Sands, and MCSO flack Brian Lee have all been videotaped stating that the arrest was because Reza had violated his order of release after he'd been let go on bond the night before for taking part in civil disobedience on July 29. This, as part of a "national day of non-compliance" to SB 1070. After court was adjourned with Reza's O.R., a crowd of about sixty supporters, who had crammed into a viewing room to watch the proceedings from a TV monitor, erupted into applause. They then filed outside to wait another two hours-plus before Reza and the others arrested that day were set free.

"They arrested him for no reason," Pablo Alvarado told me, as we all awaited Reza's release. "He was doing nothing. They just took him. To me it's clear that it's retaliation, because he's been highly critical of the sheriff. They [Arpaio and his staff] don't like him. They hate him." Reza said he was shocked by the arrest, which came without warning, just as he was about to leave for an interview. "When I saw them coming, I thought they were coming for the people in the street," he explained. "But then they just passed them and went for me." Regarding who actually ordered his arrest, Reza believes it was MCSO Deputy Chief Brian Sands, one of Arpaio's top henchmen, a man who looks like he would have felt right at home in the KGB. "It was Sands," Reza contended. "Sands was in command." MSCO thugs hustled a cuffed Reza to a van, where he remained for hours by himself. At one point, the MCSO opened up the van to display Reza to photographers and journalists like a captured prisoner of war.

"If they can do this to me," he told the reporters present before refusing interviews, "what do you expect they can do to anybody else." "I just wish the [ U.S. Department of Justice] would get on the ball and do something about it," he replied. "I don't know what else they want...It's very clear."

The DOJ has been investigating Arpaio for more than a year now for civil rights violations. There's also a federal grand jury in Phoenix looking into Arpaio and the MCSO for criminal abuse of power.

New Mexico Hotel Owner Exercises His Interpretation of Offical English! Speak English Only! Change Your Name!

Here is ANOTHER REASON NOT TO PASS THE "OFFICIAL ENGLISH" legislation supported by the ANTIs!!

Larry Whitten, a retired marine, is used to people following his orders. The Virginia-born Whitten spent 40 years in the hotel business, turning around more than 20 hotels in Texas, Oklahoma, Florida and South Carolina, before moving with his wife to Taos, NM. and purchasing the Paragon Inn. Whitten's management style did not work for him in Taos.

Whitten marched into the hotel with a strong arm. He layed down the law immediately! Among his own rules: he forbade the Hispanic workers at the run-down, Southwestern adobe-style hotel from speaking Spanish in his presence. He also ORDERED them to CHANGE THEIR NAMES to some Anglicize version. No more Martin (Mahr-TEEN). It was plain-old Martin. No more Marcos. Now it would be Mark. If employees did NOT follow Whitten's Rule of Law, they were Fired!

In the past, Whitten's "rule of law" worked for him. The 63-year-old Texan, however, wasn't prepared for what followed. His rules and his firing of several Hispanic employees, angered his employees and many in this liberal enclave of 5,000 residents at the base of the Sangre de Cristo mountains, where the most alternative of lifestyles can find a home and where Spanish language, culture and traditions have a long and revered history

Whitten lamented, "I'm doing what I have always done."

Former workers, their relatives and some town residents picketed across the street from the hotel. "I do feel he's a racist, but he's a racist out of ignorance. He doesn't know that what he's doing is wrong," says protester Juanito Burns Jr.

When Whitten initially arrived, he met with employees. Due to his abusive management style, he was afraid that they were talking about him in Spanish. Whitten immediately ordered his employees to speak English Only. To make matters worse, he ordered anyone who had a Hispanic surname to CHANGE THEIR NAME to the anglicized version. Those that DID NOT OBEY both of these rules were immediatly fired.

Fired hotel manager Kathy Archuleta says the workers initially tried to adjust to Whitten's style. "We had already gone through four or five owners before him, so we knew what to expect," Archuleta says. "I told (the workers) we needed to give him a chance." Then Whitten told some employees he was changing their Spanish first names. He said, "It has nothing to do with racism. I'm not doing it for any reason other than for the satisfaction of my guests, because people calling from all over America don't know the Spanish accents or the Spanish culture or Spanish anything," Whitten says.

Martin Gutierrez, another fired employee, says he felt disrespected when he was told to use the unaccented Martin as his name. He says he told Whitten that Spanish was spoken in New Mexico before English. "He told me he didn't care what I thought because this was his business," Gutierrez says.

The messages and comments Whitten made in interviews with local media, including referring to townsfolk as "mountain people" and "potheads who escaped society," further enflamed tensions. The town was in an uproar and protested against Whitten.

During the AP interview after hearing from the fired employees and the townspeople, Whitten became subsued. He said he was sorry for the misunderstanding and insisted he has never been against any culture. "What kind of fool or idiot or poor businessman would I be to orchestrate this whole crazy thing that's costed me a lot of time, money and aggravation?" Whitten said. (Note:We don't know Mr. Whitten. What kind of racist fool are you?? We know. We know. Some of your best friends are Latino and former Hippies. How could we think otherwise?)

Whitten should have dealt with the situation differently, especially in a majority Hispanic town, said 71-year-old Taos artist Ken O'Neil, while sipping his afternoon coffee on the town's historic plaza. "To make demands like he did just seems over the top," he says. "Nobody won here. It's not always about winning. Sometimes, it's about what you learn."
References:

Hotel owner tells Hispanic workers to change their names

Judge Sotomayor and my Lesson from Eighth Grade

When I was in Junior High School I had an experience I do not like to dwell upon. I am reminded of that experience today, through the Sotomayor hearings. Some Republicans and Right wing Shock Jocks have attempted to label Judge Sotomayor a reverse racist. In reality, she is not. Instead, she is a strict advocate of the law. Her enemies, for various political reasons, are mischaracterizing her actions.
Additionally, some right wingers seem to suggest racism against minorities does not exist in our country and all things are equal. These right wingers are wrong.

My Junior High School experience helped me learn a very important lesson in life. As many of my long time readers know, I grew up in Michigan. Since my Dad worked in an auto factory, we were one of the very few Latino families that lived in Michigan all year long. Growing up, most of my friends were white. There were very few Latinos or Blacks living in Lansing at the time. In eighth grade, my friend Allie and I walked home from school. We often took short cuts because we lived miles away from school.

When Allie and I walked home, we cut across some railroad tracks. On one particular day, we saw a purse on the tracks. Allie picked it up. She looked inside and saw a wallet. It had the name of a student with our school ID in it. We both decided she would take it to the principal's office the next day so the owner could pick it up.

The next afternoon, just before the end of the school day, I was called into the vice principal's office. She started badgering me with numerous questions. "Did you take it?" "Why did you take it?" I was startled by her attack. I explained that Allie and I found the purse and we both agreed she would bring it into the office. The Vice Principal kept badgering me. Being only 12 years old, I finally started crying. The Vice Principal said my tears proved I was lying and I may as well admit I stole it. I said no. I did not. I asked her to bring Allie in the room. She said No. She was not going to do that to her. She told me to go home and think about it and come back with a confession the next day.

Since it was after the school day ended, I walked home alone, crying the whole way. My mom and dad were waiting for me when I arrived. I was late. They saw me crying. They wanted to know what was wrong.

I explained what happened.

Mom and Dad were both quiet. They both sat beside me and let me cry. I said, "Why would they think that? Why? I have always been a good student. Why would they think that?"

They hugged me. Then Dad said, "This is your first experience with true racism. This is not the last time this will happen. Expect it to happen many more times. In situations like this, some people will just assume you are guilty simply because you are Mexican."

"But why Dad? Why? I am a good girl."
He nodded. "Yes mija. I know you are a good girl. But we Mexicans are always suspect in some people's eyes. We have to know the rules and abide by them. We have to work twice as hard just to be considered equal. You will see others bend the rules or break them, but you can never do so. And the crimes of one Mexican are layed on the shoulders of all of us."

I blinked back my tears and listened to every word he was saying. "But Dad. Is that fair?"

"It doesn't matter if it is fair or not. It is just the way it is."
I started to cry again. "Dad. I don't want to go back to school if that is how it is going to be."

"No mijita. No. You must go back to school. If you do not go back to school you will do exactly what they want you to do. They want you to give up. You cannot do that. You are an American. This is our country too. You were born here. I was born here. My Dad was born here. This is our country just as much as it is their country. We are ALL Americans. You must go back. You must complete your education. You must achieve your dreams."

I stopped crying and I nodded.

He added, "Tomorrow, I want you to go back to your friend and ask her what she told the principal. If she is your friend and she is honest, she will tell you the truth. Then the both of you can go back to the principal and tell the truth."

I nodded. My parents both hugged me.

Though I didn't want to go back the next day, I did as my father suggested. I went back to Allie and asked her what she said to the principal. She told me she went to the Vice Principal, turned in the purse and told her we found it. I told her what the Vice Principal said. It was Allie's turn to become angry. We both went back to the Vice Principal's office. Allie repeated the truth about what happened and asked the Vice Principal why she made accusations against me. The VP became quiet and shrugged. She said "Fine" and guided us to leave her office. Though she looked embarrassed, she never apologized to me, but at least she left me alone.

I thought about my eighth grade experience as I heard Republican Senators rehash over and over again Judge Sotomayor's out of context comments or their misinterpretation of the Ricci case. I admire Judge Sotomayor's civility and poise throughout the hearing and as she proved her diligence to the Constitution and the Rule of Law her entire career. She believed in hard work and Education in order to achieve the American Dream, just like my Dad coached me.

ANTI Voices are SILENT to the REAL Breakers of the Rule of Law!!

Bernie Madoff and his wife get on my nerves! Madoff is the swindler investment banker who stole more than $50Billion in a Ponzi scheme from banks, charities, retired investors and celebrities worldwide. In some cases, he wiped out the savings of retirees in their 80s and 90s who were relying on that money to pay for their stays in retirement homes. Now they are out on the streets.

Today, news reports are saying his wife withdrew more than $15 million from one of his accounts just days before his arrest. Madoff is under house arrest in his luxury Manhattan penthouse. The U.S. Attorney's Office bought more time to probe his case. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 13.
I think Madoff should be thrown in jail pending his court case. Why not? The courts could do it. Why should he be allowed to use the money of those he cheated to post bond and to buy expensive lawyers while his wife makes every attempt to hide the stolen money.

What galls me most about this case is the so-called rule of law advocates are not upset about it. This man stole FIFTY BILLION DOLLARS. He wiped out the savings of thousands of people, especially of retirees. But the right wingers are not upset. Rush Limbaugh is not upset. Malkin and her minions are not upset. Alipac is not upset. None of those who moan and groan about their so called "rule of law" are not upset. They are not forming websites or deluging Congress with hate emails, faxes and phone calls. They are not frothing at the mouth as they do about "illegal immigrants."

Madoff STOLE $50 Billion Dollars! Countless number of elderly are being thrown out on the streets because they can no longer afford their rest homes. And he is using their money to post bond!

Where are all the ANTI websites clamoring to Congress to put this wretched felonious criminal behind bars?

Why is Madoff allowed to post bail with his ill gotten gains and allowed a bracelet to stay in his luxurious million dollar penthouse in Manhattan?

Where are the rallying cries of the costs? the Losses? the Rule of Law he broke and shattered?

Where is the outcry as his wife steals millions and hides these funds in some secret overseas bank accounts?

Shhhhh......Listen......You can hear a pin drop. The ANTI voices are SILENT!!!

But that is so typical. They were just as silent over the crimes committed by Blackwater, Halliburton, Big Business Employers, abuses in the Detention Centers, the Hate Crime deaths, the Drug Cartels in the US, the US being the Number 1 drug user, the 2000 guns a day being sent to Mexico from the US, and on and on.

The next time they whine about the dollars spent on Education of those they term "illegal immigrants" I am going to say, "Where was your "rule of law anger" about Madoff?"

Denver Politics: ANTI supporters Cheer Racism on House Floor meanwhile Congresswoman Receives Death Threats for Keeping Rules of Order!

Members of Colorado Congress are on a Rocky Mountain Low! First, a radical member makes a racist statement from the floor. Then, the Congresswoman who admonishes him for his heinous remark reports she is receiving death threats for doing her job in keeping order and ANTI Rusty Woolridge cheers on the Racist! What is happening in Colorado??

DenverPost reports:

Disparaging remarks aimed at migrant workers got resident House rabble-rouser Douglas Bruce banned from speaking on a temporary-worker bill today. "We don't need 5,000 more illiterate peasants in the state of Colorado," Bruce, R-Colorado Springs, told the chamber to an audible gasp. Rep. Kathleen Curry, leading the House at the time, immediately barred Bruce from speaking at the podium, an uncommon maneuver.
"How dare you?" she asked Bruce, before House members moved back to discussion of a bill aimed at helping seasonal farm workers from other countries enter the state legally on a temporary basis. The pilot program, which sets up liaisons in Mexico to assist foreign workers, would allow up to 5,000 laborers into Colorado over five years.

Other Denver Post Headlines about Racist Bruce:

February 21, 2008: Bruce Claims Too Much In Expenses
February 15, 2008: Bruce Removed From State Veterans, Military Affairs Committee
January 24, 2008: Lawmakers Vote To Censure Rep. Douglas Bruce
January 18, 2008: Panel Recommends House 'Censure' Bruce For Kick
January 15, 2008: House Leaders Launch Investigation Of Douglas Bruce
January 15, 2008: Douglas Bruce Kicks Photographer During Swearing-In Ceremony

Denver Channel Reports:

Colorado Lawmaker Reports Threats After Chastising Colleague Over Immigration Remark

Gunnison Democrat Kathleen Curry said she has been bombarded with threatening e-mails and telephone messages since bringing down the gavel Monday. She was responding to a comment made by Colorado Springs Republican Rep. Douglas Bruce, who referred to Mexican immigrants as "illiterate peasants." Curry gaveled down and said "How dare you!" after Bruce's remark, then told him he was no longer recognized to speak at the podium. 7NEWS has learned she's not the only lawmaker receiving threats. Republicans and Democrats who have spoken out about Bruce's remarks have also received hate mail. Bruce also told 7NEWS he has received more than 900 e-mails, and many of them were threatening in nature.

Meanwhile, ANTI Zealot, Rusty Woolridge Cheers Racist Bruce, calling his peer a "Crusader" and Condones Death Threats by making Fun of the honorable Congresswoman for keeping the Rule of Order: State legislator Curry slipped sideways in her chair with indignation when Representative Douglas Bruce said, “We don’t need 5,000 more illiterate peasants in Colorado.” Her wig twisted into a twit; her lipstick blushed; her dignity fell away; and her courage slammed down with the gavel. “You’re finished at the podium,” Curry snarled. “How dare you!” Once again, Crusader Rabbit Bruce struck a nerve, said it like it is, and dumped a load of reality right into the Colorado legislatures’ laps. He slapped them upside the head! He said what is on every Coloradan’s mind! What’s that, you drawl as you spit another mouthful of chew to the pavement? “Splat!” .. You gotta’ thank gutsy Crusader Rabbit Bruce for his awesome ability to stand up to the single most destructive force in Colorado: politically correct horse manure! Peter Boyles may be the only other man not afflicted by the PC disease. Yippee ki yea!

Official Language: Penalty - Learn English or GO TO JAIL! (Includes Legal Citizens!)

For all of you who promote "Official English" and who said this would never happen, here it is. A Judge has ruled "Learn English or Go To Jail!" The judge imposed this sentence on those here legally. As we move closer to a "Gestapo State," even with no standards set, the judge says, “There’s no way young kids can be hurt by knowing how to read and write the English language.”

From TimesLeader.com

Learn English or Go to Jail!
By David Weiss dweiss@timesleader.com Court Reporter, WILKES-BARRE – March 27, 2008
That’s the succinct directive Luzerne County Judge Peter Paul Olszewski Jr. made as part of his sentence to four criminals on Tuesday. The defendants – Luis Reyes, Ricardo Dominguez, Kelvin Reyes-Rosario and Rafael Guzman-Mateo – all needed translators when they appeared in court to plead guilty to criminal conspiracy to commit robbery. It led to Olszewski leveling the unusual condition. He sentenced them each to four to 24 months in the county prison, but paroled three of them because they have already served at least four months. But in order for them to avoid the 24 months in prison, Olszewski ordered the men to learn to read and write the English language, earn their GED, and, within 30 days of release, get a full-time job while on parole. The defendants, who range in age from 17 to 22, are to return to court in one year with their parole officers to take an English test, according to Olszewski’s order. “If they don’t pass (the test), they’re going in for the 24 (months),” Olszewski said.

The ruling, the judge said, is supposed to help, not punish. “There’s no way young kids can be hurt by knowing how to read and write the English language,” he said. “It’s a means to helping them get a better education, getting a better job. Period.” Whether the legality of the ruling will be challenged has yet to be determined.
Attorneys Joseph Yeager and Ferris Webby, who represent the suspects, are looking at the ruling and laws before deciding whether to appeal. Neither has seen such an order in any past cases, they said. “First of all, let’s say it’s unusual,” Webby said. Webby said his role as an attorney requires him to look at the legality of the ruling, but, as a person, he knows Olszewski’s choice is good for his client, Guzman-Mateo. Guzman-Mateo realizes it, too.
“My client is happy,” Webby said. “I think it’s going to help him. It’s going to help him succeed.”
But that doesn’t make it right, said Agapito Lopez, a Latino community leader from Hazleton. He said he believes the ruling is a violation of the suspects’ rights. “I think that it’s contrary to the Constitution,” said Lopez, who stressed he is not an attorney and is speaking from a lay person’s perspective. “I don’t think that is due process. … I think this can be challenged in court.” Lopez said he will speak with attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union to see if the decision should be challenged.
Police said the four were part of a group of people that approached two men, Reese Tankalavage and Cletus Mumie, on May 29 on Locust Street and asked them if they had any marijuana. When Tankalavage and Mumie said no, the four suspects told them to empty their pockets. That’s when one of the people in the group struck Mumie in the head with a rawhide bone. Another man pulled out a gun. The group then searched the duo’s pockets before telling them it was “their block and they better not see them around there anymore,” police said.
In sentencing the four defendants on Tuesday, Olszewski gave Reyes, Dominguez and Guzman-Mateo immediate parole. Reyes-Rosario is doing jail time on an unrelated drug charge. His sentence in the robbery case will begin after he completes the drug sentence. Olszewski said the language condition he imposed on the defendants, who are resident aliens, was not something he had planned. Once he saw all the translators in court for one case, the idea dawned on him.
The decision, he said, could help cut down on extreme costs associated with the paying for translators for each court appearance. Plus, he said, one of the defendants only went to third grade; the others didn’t finish high school. Learning English will help them get their GED first, and then a job, he said. “Do you think we are going to supply you with a translator all of your life?” he asked them.
Olszewski is ready to face any flak from the ruling. “I’d like anyone to tell me that learning the English language is not a good thing,” he said. “I’d love to hear from them.” Learning the language could help the suspects, Lopez said. But it would not assure them of getting a job – that theory is merely mythical, he said.
“This is a country in which English is not the official language,” he said. “We cannot force people to learn the language.” Olszewski said the parties can ask him to reconsider the ruling within 10 days. No one, he said, objected to the ruling in court Tuesday. Olszewski is unaware of whether this condition had been previously imposed. It’s not the first creative sentence Olszewski has imposed. He regularly orders defendants to get and maintain a full-time job, but also helps them find work. He has his tipstaff, Ron Zukosky, coordinate with an employment agency to find the defendants work. The judge also has ordered young defendants who dropped out of school to return and finish school. “There’s no way young kids can be hurt by knowing how to read and write the English language.” Judge Peter Paul Olszewski Jr.