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Arizona Judge Tells Sheriff "Reveal Password Or Face Contempt"

An anonymous reader writes "Four days ago, deputies from the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office in Arizona conducted a raid against the county government building hosting computers for a law enforcement database. After threatening to arrest county employees who would stop them, the officers proceeded to secure the room and promptly changed passwords on many of the servers. In a hearing on Friday, a Superior Court judge threatened to hold members of the Sheriff's Office in contempt if they did not reveal the passwords by next Wednesday. Following this, the Sheriff's Office claimed to be conducting an investigation against other Superior Court judges. Courts have asked for passwords before, but never under conditions like this."

13 of 624 comments (clear)

  1. Correct link for article discussing contempt claim by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    The correct article is here.

    Amazing this is happening in the United States

  2. Re:Summary doesn't make it clear... by MindlessAutomata · · Score: 5, Informative

    Sorry, forgot link:

    http://www.arpaio.com/index.php

    There's a reason this asshole has such a critical website over him. I firmly believe he's a sociopath.

  3. Re:Do they really need the password? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Yes they do have an IT guy. Appears he built the system. No I don't believe he does need the password. But he is reported to have told the judge it would be "convenient" to have it but that he didn't really need it.

    Hendershott Could End Up in Jail Next Week in Showdown Over Password

  4. That's why the US isn't a democracy by Sycraft-fu · · Score: 5, Informative

    It is a Constitutional Federal Republic. This means that there are various check on the majority. 50.0001% of people can't vote to oppress the other 49.9999%. Things like constitutional law can only be changed by a very lengthy process (66% of both congressional bodies, 75% of all states have to approve it).

    So while the majority may agree with what he's doing, or at least the parts of what he's doing they are aware of, that doesn't make it right, or legal. He has, on many occasions, been sued successfully for various rights violations.

    It is something that needs to be fought, not something that people should just say "Well the majority elected him. Doesn't matter that they did, he is still accountable to the law. That's how the system is setup.

    1. Re:That's why the US isn't a democracy by bumburumbi · · Score: 5, Informative

      To some this IS cruel and unusual punishment. In 1997 a couple wanted by the authorities in Arizona successfully avoided extradition.

      "They demonstrated [to the district court] that the conditions in that [Maricopa County] prison were inhumane and degrading, and that an Icelandic decision to grant the extradition request would therefore conflict with their rights under Article 68 paragraph 1 of the [Icelandic] Constitution, which prohibits torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; Article 3 of the European Human Rights Convention, and Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The Supreme Court sustained the view that the legal requirements for extradition were not fulfilled[.]"

      (Interim report of the Icelandic Government to the European Committee Against Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT), 1999) http://eng.domsmalaraduneyti.is/reports/nr/126

  5. Re:Summary doesn't make it clear... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Speaking as a Brit living in Arizona, I can assure you he is NOT popular across all the state.

    His constituents in Phoenix, however, think the sun shines out of his arse.

    This also explains a lot about Phoenix in general.

  6. Re:Summary doesn't make it clear... by linzeal · · Score: 5, Informative

    People waiting for trial are not 'criminals'. He has had over half a dozen deaths in custody this year along for people who were not convicted of a crime. County jails should be equivalent in comfort, food and atmosphere to a Motel 6 till you are convicted, imho.

  7. Re:Summary doesn't make it clear... by jamstar7 · · Score: 5, Informative

    This probably has something to do with the fact that he actually has his people enforcing the law, and doesn't waste money coddling criminals. Given the amount of ridiculous benefits we see in most prisons in the US that make prison a "no-brainer" for large numbers of people (see here: people actually trying to get themselves thrown in jail), I'd say I like the idea of making prison as unpalatable a concept as possible.

    He gets a certain cash amount from the Feds per prisoner to keep them in his 'jails', a bunch of tent cities, population over 4,000. He spends the absolute minimum on these and runs them in a manner consistent with German concentration camps (without the poison gas showers; he doesn't want to kill his prisoners, he wants the money from it), thus creating a cash surplus he uses to make sure his department has enough weapons to take over a Third World country. You can get thrown into one of his 'jails' by having a couple outstanding parking tickets, or defaulting on your child support payments.

    As a resident of Arizona, he makes me ashamed to live here.

    --
    Understanding the scope of the problem is the first step on the path to true panic.
  8. Re:Summary doesn't make it clear... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Speaking as a Brit living in Arizona, I can assure you he is NOT popular across all the state.

    His constituents in Phoenix, however, think the sun shines out of his arse.

    This also explains a lot about Phoenix in general.

    I dont think he's popular in Britian either, not after trying to extradite law abiding british citizens and threaten to humiliate them

  9. Re:Summary doesn't make it clear... by linzeal · · Score: 5, Informative

    People should not die in custody and especially should not while awaiting trial. ---- note the period

    The US has more deaths in custody than almost any other first-world country but Britain is damn close because of the number of heroin-related deaths there. Deaths in custody after the introduction of the taser in both countries rose as deaths related to overdose, homicide by police officer, cardiac-arrest and many others increased substantially. The taser is over-used and mis-used and police are killing people because of it. Don't be an apologist for murderers, it makes you look like a monster.

  10. Re:Summary doesn't make it clear... by slashqwerty · · Score: 5, Informative

    The guy is just a vicious sick fuck, and as we have seen time after time after time that "bullies with badges" just keeping pushing the limit until they go to far and get somebody killed. And the odds are he won't kill some hardened rapist, but some kid caught riding in a stolen car or with a bag of dope.

    Some would argue he has already gotten several people killed. And Charles Agster was not some kid caught riding in a stolen car or with a bag of dope. Ambria Spencer's daughter certainly didn't commit any crimes. Richard Post really was caught with dope but he wasn't killed. Instead, the guards broke his neck turning him into a quadriplegic, and then they went on to laugh about it.

  11. he hasn't decreased crime by commodoresloat · · Score: 5, Informative

    It's wishful thinking. The East Valley Tribune won a pulitzer for an expose of Sheriff Joe's tactics that concluded, among other things, that his focus on illegal immigration has actually stolen the focus away from violent crimes.

  12. Re:Summary doesn't make it clear... by shiftless · · Score: 5, Informative

    That's funny because I'm sitting in my tent in Afghanistan at this very moment, and it's equipped with an air conditioning unit just like all the other tents. I've been to some of the smallest, shittiest FOBs in this country and haven't yet seen one where the commander is so inhumane as to require his soldiers to sleep in a bare tent in 115+ degree weather. The other day the power went out when it was 100 degrees out and within a matter of minutes the heat inside was un-fucking-bearable.