Joe Arpaio

'Nothing Changes': How Sheriff Joe Arpaio Went To Battle Against Civil Rights Laywers Back In 1997

Nick R. Martin | May 11, 2012, 5:49AM

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio talks with media during a news conference announcing the opening of Tent City II in Phoenix, Tuesday, May 9,1995.

Joe Arpaio has been here before. At another time, during another Democratic administration, the tough talking Arizona sheriff was hit with a federal civil rights lawsuit designed to end the abusive practices of his agency.

It was 1997 when the sheriff, then 65, took to a press conference in Phoenix to react to news that the U.S. Justice Department was suing him for what it alleged was a longstanding mistreatment of inmates in his jails.

According to news reports from the time, he promised he would not back down. Everything was going to stay the same. "Nothing changes," he said.

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Joe Arpaio

Sheriff Joe Arpaio Agrees To Cooperate On Discrimination Probe

Ryan J. Reilly | February 7, 2012, 9:55AM

Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio

Updated Feb. 7 2:20PM

After claiming the allegations of civil rights violations by his Maricopa County Sheriff's Office were part of President Barack Obama's reelection bid, Sheriff Joe Arpaio's office said in a statement Monday that they had agreed to work together with the Justice Department to "develop a document that addresses any agreed upon improvements needed."

Both Arpaio and DOJ are "committed to avoiding unnecessary and expensive litigation by the creation of an enforceable agreement which will lead to sustainable reforms and positive results for all citizens of Maricopa County," according to a statement from the Sheriff's office.

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Gay Marriage

Christie On Gay Marriage: Southern Blacks Would Have Been Psyched To Have Vote On Their Rights

Jillian Rayfield | January 26, 2012, 5:14PM

Black lawmakers in New Jersey have sharply criticized Republican Gov. Chris Christie for comparing a ballot referendum on gay marriage to the civil rights movement thusly: "The fact of the matter is, I think people would have been happy to have a referendum on civil rights rather than fighting and dying in the streets in the South."

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Voting Rights Act

DOJ: Texas Has Provided 'Incomplete' Information In Probe Of Rick Perry Signed Voter ID Law

Ryan J. Reilly | November 16, 2011, 5:45PM

Governor Rick Perry (R-TX)

Texas provided "incomplete" information that does not enable federal officials to determine whether their proposed voter ID law would be discriminatory, the Justice Department said in a letter Wednesday.

Essentially, the letter from DOJ Civil Rights Division Voting Section Chief T. Christian Herren Jr. restarts the clock on when the Department has to make a decision about whether the law signed by Gov. Rick Perry complies with the Voting Rights Act. They have 60 days from when Texas sends them complete information.

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Barack Obama

What The Justice Department Can Actually Do About Voter ID Laws

Ryan J. Reilly | October 5, 2011, 5:45AM

President Barack Obama last week told a radio audience that he's made sure the Justice Department is reviewing restrictive voting laws passed across the country. But as a practical matter, DOJ's reach is limited.

Sure, federal officials with DOJ's Civil Rights Division are reviewing voter ID laws passed in South Carolina and Texas because both states have a history of discrimination and are covered by Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. DOJ told South Carolina in August that they need more info before making a decision and in September told Texas they have more questions.

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Nikki Haley

Nikki Haley's South Carolina To Give Rides To 22 Voters To Get Photo IDs

Ryan J. Reilly | September 27, 2011, 4:15PM

Nikki Haley

Arguing last month that the voter ID law she signed into law in May wasn't discriminatory, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley offered to give voters free rides to obtain their photo ID from the DMV. 22 people took her up on it.

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Rick Perry

What DOJ Tossing Texas' Redistricting Plan Means For Rick Perry

Ryan J. Reilly | September 20, 2011, 6:30AM

As if Rick Perry needed another reason to dislike the federal government.

The Justice Department's decision to oppose the redistricting plan Perry signed as Governor of Texas is raising questions over whether he and state Republicans tried to dilute the voter power of Latinos by gerrymandering them into particular districts.

DOJ's opening serve sets the scene for a major court battle over how the lines will be drawn in the Lone Star state. Federal attorneys are expected to offer more details of their objections in a filing Tuesday and in federal court in D.C. on Wednesday.

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Rick Perry

DOJ: Rick Perry's Texas Congressional Redistricting Map Violates Voting Rights Act

Ryan J. Reilly | September 19, 2011, 2:57PM

Texas Governor and Presidential Candidate Rick Perry (R)

Updated: September 19, 2011, 4:27PM

The Justice Department said Monday that Texas' state House and congressional redistricting plans didn't comply with Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA), indicating they thought the maps approved by Gov. Rick Perry (R) gave too little voting power to the growing Latino population in the state.

Officials with DOJ's Civil Rights Division said the proposed redistricting plan for the State Board of Education (SBOE) and the state Senate complied with the Voting Rights Act, but indicated they had concerns with the state House plan and the plan for congressional redistricting.

The federal government "[denied] that the proposed Congressional plan, as compared with the benchmark, maintains or increases the ability of minority voters to elect their candidate of choice in each district protected by Section 5," DOJ lawyers write in a filing. "Defendants deny that the proposed Congressional plan complies with Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act."

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Rick Perry

Coalition: Perry's Voter ID Law Intentionally Discriminates Against Minorities

Ryan J. Reilly | September 13, 2011, 5:15PM

Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX)

A photo voter ID law signed by Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry is unnecessary, unfair, restrictive and intentionally discriminates against African-American and Latino voters, a coalition of civil rights groups will argue in a letter to the Justice Department on Wednesday.

Groups in the coalition want DOJ's Civil Rights Division to oppose preclearance of Texas's photo voter identification law under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. The Advancement Project, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Asian American Justice Center, Southwest Workers Union, a statewide Hispanic organization and Demos say the state failed to prove that the law was enacted for a nondiscriminatory purpose and that it will have no discriminatory effect on minorities.

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Jerrold Nadler

Nadler: Bush-Era DOJers Running 'Willie Horton Campaign' Against Civil Rights Division

Ryan J. Reilly | June 1, 2011, 2:15PM

Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY)

Former Bush-era Justice Department employees are making a career out of running a "Willie Horton campaign" against the Obama administration's Civil Rights Division, Rep. Jerrold Nadler said Wednesday. The New York Democrat claimed the ex-DOJ employees were scaring people into thinking the administration is favoring minorities over white people.

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Civil Rights

DOJ Investigating Mosque Controversy In Georgia

Ryan J. Reilly | March 7, 2011, 10:45AM

A Justice Department spokeswoman confirms to TPM that the Civil Rights Division has an ongoing investigation into whether a town council in Gwinnett County, Ga., denied a mosque a land use permit because of its religion.

As first reported by WSBTV, the Lilburn City Council has voted several times to deny the Dar-e Abbas Shia Islamic Center's rezoning and special use permit requests, which would allow the mosque to move to a larger property and build a cemetery.

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Patriot Act

Tea Partiers Help ACLU, House Dems Stop Patriot Act Renewal

Susan Crabtree and Ryan J. Reilly | February 9, 2011, 9:27AM

Reps. Ron Paul (R-TX) and Dennis Kucinich (D-OH)

The American Civil Liberties Union's Michelle Richardson didn't know where things stood ahead of the House's vote expended certain provisions of the PATRIOT Act last night.

"I have no special inside knowledge on how this is going to shake down, but we're certainly going to be watching it closely," she told TPM ahead of the Tuesday night vote.

The big mystery was how the Tea Party-backed members would break on the first national security vote in the new Congress -- and whether the libertarian leanings of members from the right could align with concerns about government overreach on the left. Richardson said they'd be "seeing if the small government beliefs that have been espoused also apply in the national security context."

In the end, 26 Republicans broke with their leadership to oppose the bill, which still gained a majority of votes (227 to 148) but didn't pass.

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Bobby Franklin

Georgia Republican: Nobody Should Need A Driver's License

Ryan J. Reilly | February 2, 2011, 8:50AM

Bobby Franklin

Republican Georgia state legislator Bobby Franklin thinks that driver's licenses impose undue restrictions on the right of citizens to travel. So he's proposed legislation to stop the state from issuing them.

"Free people have a common law and constitutional right to travel on the roads and highways that are provided by their government for that purpose," Franklin's legislation states. "Licensing of drivers cannot be required of free people, because taking on the restrictions of a license requires the surrender of an inalienable right."

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Henry E. Bailey

Feds: Cincinnati Landlord Kicked Out Tenants Who Wouldn't Perform Sex Acts

Ryan J. Reilly | February 1, 2011, 8:30AM

Cincinnati landlord Henry E. Bailey currently owns 22 apartments in three separate buildings in Ohio. And since at least 2008, the federal government says he's been sneaking into the apartments of his female residents without their permission, groping them without their consent, offering reduced rent and maintenance repairs in exchange for sexual favors and refusing to make repairs for or offer rent discounts to those who refused.

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Don't Ask Don't Tell

Rep. Lewis On DADT: 'Vote Yes Because Discrimination Is Wrong' (VIDEO)

Rachel Slajda | December 15, 2010, 5:09PM

Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) gave a brief but moving speech on the House floor today in favor of repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell.

Lewis, a Civil Rights activist who was beaten while marching from Selma to Montgomery in 1965, said a vote to end DADT is a vote to end discrimination.

"I have just two words for you, my colleagues: Vote yes ... Vote yes for equality. Vote yes because discrimination is wrong," he said. "Vote yes because on the battlefield it doesn't matter who you love, only the flag that you serve."

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