TheAgitator.com
I’m Just a Simple Lawman
Tuesday, January 5th, 2010The Arizona Republic reports that in his deposition for a class action suit against him and his department, Maricopa County, Arizona, Sheriff Joe Arpaio testified that he hasn’t read his own book on immigration policy.
Less surprising but still sort of startling to see in print, the sheriff conceded he is “not well-versed” on the Fourth Amendment.
In sheriff Joe’s defense, I’m pretty sure he can’t read. That would explain why he didn’t read his own book, or the Constitution.
I’m sure that Joe is well versed in the concept that “ignorance of the law is no excuse” – his goons must use that a dozen times a day.
#1, lmao
“Arpaio says he was not well versed on the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, or its counterpart in the Arizona Constitution, which prohibit unreasonable searches and seizures. He says he relies on his legal team to deal with those intricacies”
Why do I imagine his legal team to looking something like this?
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1234/721645301_d55afe8859.jpg
Ignorance of the law absolutely is a defense… if you’re a cop. He can’t be held civilly liable for breaking the law on the job unless he’s 110% sure he’s breaking the law. So it’s very much to his advantage to remain ignorant — or apparently ignorant — of the 4th amendment.
Cops should be required to pass a comprehensive test on constitutional law, with retests every couple of years to make sure they retain the knowledge.
#4 Jon
Please, please don’t insult the dogs. More like this:
http://www.infoaddict.com/wp-content/uploads/HLIC/dailybail.com/storage/three_stooges.jpg
Perhaps the last words Sheriff Joe will ever hear:
“I don’t understand any of that fancy, schmancy legal stuff either. I’m just a simple hitman.”
Reading that, in addition to everything else, makes me wonder again how the heck he keeps getting elected. He tramples on people’s constitutional rights on a daily basis, openly and eagerly profiles people based on race, and runs his prisons like they’re his own little personal funhouses, doing all of this with supreme arrogance, hubris, and disregard for the rule of law.
Oh, right, I forgot, we don’t need those rights when terrorists, pot-smokers, and Mexicans are afoot! We’re lucky we’ve got people like Sheriff Joe watching out for us! He keeps the bad people in line! Which I guess is enough for his electors.
OTOH, Sherriff Joe’s ignorance of the law allows him to make up his own laws as he goes along.
#7 MacGregory
Please don’t insult the stooges. More like this:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/Klan-in-gainesville.jpg
#10 MikeL
Please don’t insult the Klan. More like this:
http://blog.willamette.edu/people/klutz/journal/archives/spanish_inquisition.jpg
ok I know it was silly but I just thought I’d help keep it going
#11 JS
I certainly didn’t expect the Spanish Inquisition. I can’t believe I didn’t think of that.
@#6: I went to law school with people who couldn’t do that then, much less now.
In the sheriff’s defense, I took a look at the Fourth Amendment and counted 54 words!
Oh crap, he’s using the Enron defense!
What happened with the Stoddard and Cuccia thing?
#11 JS:
Please don’t insult Monty Python. It’s more like this:
http://thumbnails.hulu.com/8/663/24724_512x288_manicured__U5se+ANuhUWxi0bhvubtvg.jpg
And for the record, that’s the “evidence locker” that the lawyer is protecting.
hahaha! brillliant!
4th Amendment is the heart and soul of citizen rights.
Unfortunately it means nothing right now. Last time I brought
up “Probable Cause” to my lawyer, in FLA, several years ago, he laughed at me. “They’ll just lie” was his response.
Old Arpaio reminds me of Robert Novak. Or Cheney.
In the midst of this political maelstrom, you expect these
self-serving cretins to be arrested or blow up or something exciting
but they just roll over and die.
If Joe “Stalin” Arpaio wants to read the Fourth Amendment, all he need do is hold the sole of his jackboot up to a mirror.
“In depositions, they’ll ask you questions 100 different ways and try to trick you,” said Joe.
Poor darling, it’s just like talking to a LOE, isn’t it?
Curse lack of editing.
LEO, of course.