This news is almost a week old, but I am greatly relieved to see that Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers and others have called for a federal investigation into the conduct of Maricopa County, AZ Sheriff Joe Arpaio, a man whose style of law enforcement is a blend of nineteen sixties Alabama and Spain under Franco, with just a touch of Aleksandr Lukashekno-style personality cult flamboyance thrown in for good measure. Joe Arpaio turned his county into an authoritarian fiefdom, ruled by fear, brutality, and racism, where prisons are industry and entertainment, and punishment is applied as an end in itself. Famously, Apraio, a county sheriff, became the subject of criticism by global human rights watchdog Amnesty International and the High Courts of Ireland and Iceland.
He’s that bad.
Transitionland 