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The U.S. Justice Department said Tuesday that America's self-proclaimed toughest sheriff was negotiating in bad faith, jeopardizing efforts to settle civil rights charges stemming from allegations of racial profiling against Latinos.
Department of Justice officials told a lawyer for Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio that the lawman's refusal of a court-appointed monitor was a deal-breaker that would end settlement negotiations and result in a federal lawsuit.
The Justice Department says Arpaio previously agreed to outside supervision and tried to change the terms of the deal in a letter Tuesday.
"We believe that you are wasting time and not negotiating in good faith," wrote Roy Austin Jr., a deputy assistant attorney general, questioning whether the sheriff's office was ever interested in settling the matter. "Your tactics have required DOJ to squander valuable time and resources."
But the sheriff's office said it made no such agreement. Arpaio said in a written statement that allowing a court monitor would mean that every policy decision would have to be cleared through an observer and would nullify his authority.
"I am the constitutionally and legitimately elected sheriff, and I absolutely refuse to surrender my responsibility to the federal government," Arpaio said, accusing the Obama administration of trying to "strong arm" him.
"They don't want to monitor," he added. "They want to run my office."
Read more here: www.kansascity.com...=cpy
Originally posted by Patifier
But the sheriff's office said it made no such agreement. Arpaio said in a written statement that allowing a court monitor would mean that every policy decision would have to be cleared through an observer and would nullify his authority.