The Arizona Republic has printed a barrage of articles, editorials, and guest op-eds by attorneys lately highly critical of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and County
Attorney Andrew Thomas. When attorneys like Dennis Riccio, below, try to submit an article with a positive viewpoint of Arpaio and Thomas, the Republic can’t turn their bias aside enough to print even one positive article.
My Turn: Enough of Prejudging Thomas and Arpaio
It is disturbing reading many of the editorials and op-eds in this this newspaper about Sheriff Arpaio and County Attorney Andrew Thomas’s attempts to prosecute Supervisors Stapley and Wilcox and investigate the Court Tower. The writers rush to judgment accusing Arpaio and Thomas of unethical behavior, without knowing the full facts. Only Arpaio and Thomas have seen the results of the investigations, search warrants and subpoenas. Most of this information is still privileged until the prosecution is over, and some of it – the Grand Jury information – will never be publicly releasable. The newspaper editorial board and criminal defense attorneys are acting as judge and jury prematurely deciding cases in public they know very little about.
The public has a right to be skeptical of a $341 million state of the art, luxury Court Tower being built during a recession, while county agencies, including law enforcement, are forced to cut 15% of their budgets by laying off employees. With the exception of columnist Laurie Roberts, this newspaper has failed to ask the hard questions, and even her questions have gone unanswered. Why is this luxury tower being built even though the county cannot afford it? People deserve to know answers.
Feb 032010
