TheAgitator.com
Sheriff Joe’s New Low
Monday, November 23rd, 2009Maricopa County, Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio outrages are a dime a dozen. But if reported accurately, here’s one for his greatest hits file:
The most recent atrocity committed by the self-proclaimed “America’s Toughest Sheriff” involves a woman who was detained while 9-months pregnant. Alma MinervaChacon’s case has been receiving media attention due to the brutality with which she was treated. The very same night of her arrest, Chacon went into labor and found herself afraid and alone, being rushed to a local hospital with her hands and legs chained in shackles.
Once she reached the hospital, nurses repeatedly begged the Sheriff’s staff to allow them to unchain the mother, but they refused and Chacon was forced to give birth while still shackled to the bed. At one point, the nurse asked for them to release her so that she could be escorted to the bathroom for a urinalysis, but even that request was denied. But the worst came once Chacon gave birth to her baby girl.
Still chained to the bed, Arpaio’s police staff refused to allow Chacon to hold her newborn baby and then warned her that if no one came to pick up the child within 72 hours, she would be turned over into state custody.
There’s a video interview with Chacon at the link. She was apparently detained on suspicion of being in the country illegally.
MORE: The Phoenix New Times has more details. Chacon had a warrant for $1,000 in traffic fines and a misdemeanor shoplifting charge pending against her, though neither was the reason she was pulled over.
Sher-rough Joe is a product of our collective Hollywood vision of law enforcement. Outside of Federal intervention, he’ll never be ousted from his post. What a douche (I believe I could prove that).
B…But…she’s here illegally! And therefore bad, somehow! She was just here to have an anchor baby! They should’ve driven her illegal ass back to Mexico to have that bastard child! YAY SHERIFF JOE! THE ENDS DEFINITELY JUSTIFY THE MEANS!!!
… was that too far over the top? Because that’s the reaction I’d expect to see to this story from far too many people.
When medical care providers are confronted by obstinate police hiding behind hide-bound procedures, what should they do in those situations?
Refuse to administer treatment, and maybe just tell the police that they cannot practice medicine under those constraints, and just tell the police to obtain the medical care elsewhere?
Then, they would certainly be sued if medical complications arose.
There was a viral video posted this year about an Emergency Room Head Nurse being placed under arrest because of the obstinancy of a police lieutenant in the Chicago PD.
I believe she was later charged with Obstruction. It had to do with DUI blood testing of a suspect. The police were demanding to go to the head of the line.
I’m always slow to compare even our most egregious law enforcement problems to authoritarian countries. After all, at least no one is shutting down blogs like this that report on it. However I’m not sure how you distinguish this from stuff that goes on in the most repressive parts of the world.
Sheriff Joe Arpaio with his Nazi buddies:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWVn4-lOwuM
I am not a fan of huge punitive damages, but this is a case where such a judgment would be useful.
If Maricopa County were to be on the receiving end of a billion-dollar judgment, they just might reconsider their affection for Sheriff Joe.
Just a quick medical observation: I am absolutely certain that placing the newborn infant with the mother is a standard part of protocols for Paramedics performing a field delivery. I’m confident that the same holds true in the hospital, unless there is a very good reason not to do so.
The why: (stop here if you’re bothered by biology) Allowing the infant to breastfeed, or even simply placing it with the mother stimulates the release of oxytocin, which helps to control vaginal bleeding and reduce the size of the uterus.
If the cops interfered with standard medical practice, there’s almost certainly a cause of action involved. Also, keeping the patient chained to the bed during birth has got to be contraindicated.
as a society, we keep hitting new lows. I’m embarrassed for all of us.
SO it’s confirmed…Sheriff Joe and his cohorts are less than human. I always thought empathy and compassion were what truly separates us from other species.
Glad Joe isn’t my dad or grandpa…can you imagine? Sooner or later this guy’s own closet door is going to come slamming open and we are going to get several good laughs at what will amount to over-the-top hypocrisy….count on it.
Marty, I see no need to be embarrassed. You have not done this and, while it is not in your power to stop it, you can certainly make your disgust known.
Whim: We used to carry around handcuff keys. That way we could take the restraints off when it was necessary. (Think unconscious and vomiting or unable to breathe when lying flat.) The only down-side is that if the patient actually escaped due to our actions, we would probably face jail time…
This (and maybe only this) is why America needs Al Sharpton. He could earn a lot of money just battling Sheriff Joe…and rightly so.
No, I am not a big fan of Al’s. Just realistic.
Godwin Alert!!!
Wow, the Nazis would be proud.
Out of curiosity, and not to say that I think it makes any difference…was she actually here illegally?
I’m not asking because I think it makes a difference as to how she should have been treated…basic humanity, and all that jazz.
I’m asking because if she was here illegally, the media and public will most likely ignore and sweep this under the rug, because of the fairly deep seated bias in recent years over illegals.
If she was a citizen though….let the shitstorm commence.
I don’t have a problem with the restraints, so long as they’re not in the way of the medical procedure. If they are, the officers need to reconfigure.
But pretty much everything else, like not letting her hold the baby, is out of their purview.
I’ve occasionally had to tell a nurse, “He’s my prisoner, and your patient. I won’t interfere in the medical process, so please don’t interfere in custody matters.”
Every time I hear about Arpaio I can’t help but think of this quote from Shawshank:
“there’s only three ways to spend the taxpayer’s hard-earned when it come to prisons. More walls. More bars. More guards.”
That pretty much sums up how John Q Voter feels.
According to the linked article, about half the people sheriff Joe detains as illegal are in fact, legal. 100% are hispanic though, because if white people had to put up with this shit sheriff Joe might lose his job.
Let me add that I do everything I can to accomodate the needs of medical providers, but some things (like the level of restraints required at certain custody levels) just aren’t negotiable.
Isn’t interfering with medical personnel treating a medical emergency considered a crime itself in most areas?
This makes me want to throw up.
KBCraig – I’ve occasionally had to tell a nurse, “He’s my prisoner, and your patient. I won’t interfere in the medical process, so please don’t interfere in custody matters.”
That seems perfectly reasonable, and you shouldn’t be getting modded down for saying so.
On the flip side, isn’t actively interfering with a doctor during a medical emergency considered a serious crime in most areas? I imagine that if I were to do so in your presence, you would immediately, and very rightly, use any necessary force to stop me and place me under arrest. Would you do the same thing if I were a uniformed police officer? If so, fantastic. If not, can you explain why should I be treated differently than any other criminal who is endangering another persons safety and welfare?
Wait, okay. If her crime was suspected illegal immigration…
She gave birth on US soil. That makes her legal.
So shouldn’t she be released?
Uh, no. That makes her child a citizen, and confers no legal right to be here on the mother. There’s no violation of her child’s rights to send the child back with her, anymore than it is for an American court to award custody to a non-citizen parent who is leaving the country.
That said, I’d call these jackboots “pigs,” but that would imply some sort of domestication or compatibility with civilization that is unfitting their behavior…
Doctors should trump cops in hospital. Lets face it, the cops we are able to hire today are not all that bright, and most any trained professional is going to make a better judgment call than they will in any given setting, including a hospital situation.
If the cops are so damned scared of an inmate pregnant woman in labor while at an outside hospital, they can set up their own materinity ward inside the prison walls, complete with ultrasound machines and forceps and whatever. Then they won’t have to worry about using cuffs, because they won’t be outside of the prison.
There was a time when cops violated the civil rights of citizens, Lyndon Johnson would have the Justice Department investigate them and bring then to trial. That might have been the only good thing he did, but that more than what I can say for everyone after him.
Too bad she was Hispanic and doesn’t have an association that will represent her. If she were black, Al Sharpton, Rev. Jackson, and the NAACP would be all over this case; if she were a lesbian, the LGBT orgs would be up in arms and making a huge scene in the media. Is there no Civil Rights organization that can represent her?
To the simpleton cop upthread (that would be you, KBCraig) the woman had $1K in driving w/o a license and a misdemeanor shoplifting charge. She was also delivering a baby. The sociopathic cops kept her chained up (because we all know about those fleet footed woen in the latter stages of labor) and refused to allow post delivery mother chils bonding and you think that OK.
I’ll bend over while you pucker up PIG.
Oops on the errors. My spelling suffers when I’m angry at inhumane morons on the internet.
Great. Now we have fucking pigs on the boards (KBCraig). Here’s some career advice… quit your job and stop acting as a authoritarian fascist for the state. Or kill yourself. Either/or would make the world a better place.
Will this be on CNN or ABC or Fox news tonight or ever?
Mattocracy “There was a time when cops violated the civil rights of citizens, Lyndon Johnson would have the Justice Department investigate them and bring then to trial. ”
I always wondered about that. Why doesn’t the so called justice department do anything about all this? How can the federal government allow local government thugs to routinely abuse people the way they do in this country?
KBCraig – I’ve occasionally had to tell a nurse, “He’s my prisoner, and your patient. I won’t interfere in the medical process, so please don’t interfere in custody matters.”
Well everyone beat me to it. Nothing more to say.
KBCraig – I’ve occasionally had to tell a nurse, “He’s my prisoner, and your patient. I won’t interfere in the medical process, so please don’t interfere in custody matters.”
Maybe they should have arrested the baby for interfering in your custody matters. Because being in custody is the single most important thing in life anyway.
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Marikafka County has already had to shell out $40 million in judgments, with another $40 million pending in court. The voters keep electing Joe Asswipe.
The feds had better take care of this fast, before someone decides to put a bullet in Joe’s head.
Obviously the treatment she recieved was not justified in any way. Just to clarify though, according to the article she immigrated here illegally. She came on a tourist visa and stayed.
InMD “I’m always slow to compare even our most egregious law enforcement problems to authoritarian countries. After all, at least no one is shutting down blogs like this that report on it. ”
That’s only because no one’s paying attention to it other than a few powerless people on the internet.
If these stories were on ABC, NBC, CNN and FoxNews every time they happened then they would either shut them down or actually do something about it. Our politicians would be all like “I’m shocked SHOCKED to find police abusing their powers in this great country of ours.”
The smart money bet is that the pols would say “Another vicious attack on our fine police officers by the biased media.”
New item soon to be seen in medical supply catalogs?
Bolt cutters.
Dear Aresen,
I hate that you’re right.
Love,
JS
The main question isn’t being asked: “What prompts this attitude on the part of some police to behave this way?” How did it get started? What was the justification?
nemo, Officer Friendly has always been, um, non-representative. In the Old West, men often went from being outlaws in one town to deputies in the next. Sometimes they didn’t even move first.
You want to know why they keep electing Joe Arpaio? It’s because of the complete disinterest the feds have in securing the borders. It’s hard to support Sheriff Joe when his mooks pull stunts like this; but it’s a LOT easier when an illegal without a license gets drunk and crashes his car into someone or something. Or when MS-13 members slink across the border and raise havoc.
Honestly, I think we should just annex Mexico. It’s not like their government does much anyways.
Sickening.