Americas Toughest Sherif

CASSANDRA PORTER

Sheriff Joe, a positive influence on the justice system or an

unethical tyrant?
Nestled in middle of Arizona lies the Maricopa county jail. Maricopa county jail is
operated by Sheriff Joe Arpaio, although those who do not support the methods used in this
building call it Concentration Camp Arpaio. This jail is home to almost 9000 inmates and is
famous for its Tent City, program. Sheriff Joe has been in the media lately for his controversial
and harsh stance against immigration. Sheriff Joe has undergone many lawsuits from both
prisoners and employees. Sheriff Joe requires prisoner to pay for their food or work it off. Many
say that his treatment of prisoners is unethical. (King)
Sheriff Joe Arpaio was elected the sheriff of Maricopa County in 1993. Since then he has
been named Worlds toughest sheriff. Sheriff Joe is mostly known for his tent city. Sheriff
Joe suggested the idea for tent city when the jail population was increasing and the city was
proposing an outrageous proposal for a new section of the jail. Instead of accepting the new
addition Sheriff Joe gathered hundreds of surplus army Korean War era tents to house the
inmates. Tent city, is located outside the jail in Arizona heat where temperatures inside the
tents can reach up to one hundred and twenty degrees Fahrenheit. This section of the jail is home
to almost 2,000 inmates, generally there on charges of intoxicated driving and drug trafficking.
When the prisoners complain about the hot inhumane conditions, of tent city, Sheriff Joe
replies If you dont like it, I highly recommend you dont go to jail. (King)
Sheriff Joe requires that underneath their prison uniforms their underwear is pink. Arpaio
has also brought back a voluntary chain gang. The chain gang was also expanded to women
who are able to work a seven hour work day, six days a week. The chain gang is available for

adolescents, who can earn credit towards their GED by working a five hour work day. Arpaio
also has a radio station that is broadcast out of the basement of the jail and includes his favorite
songs in the categories of jazz, classical and religious hymns. This station runs for four hours a
day, five days a week. Inmates are also required to register for the selective service, whether they
are legal or not. Since 2001, almost 30,000 inmates have been register including almost 10,000
illegal immigrants. Arpaio strictly bans any type of sexually explicit or provocative contraband,
like pornography and play boy magazines. Sheriff Joe does allow a little bit of fun though,
recently he released clips of the best prison performances of his Inmate Idol. (Arpaio)
Sheriff Joe has also taken many other strides to reduce the jail budget and save tax payers
money. The inmates in Maricopa County receive two vegetarian meals per day, which has cut the
food budget in half. Sheriff Joe also cut out the use of salt, pepper and butter in the meals that are
provided to the inmates. In 2013 it was announced that the prisoners would have to pay for their
own meals, or work harder for them. When asked why this change was implemented, Sheriff Joe
told eye opener magazine Everybody else has to pay for their food, why should inmates get
freebies? (King)
Sheriff Joe has a very tough stance on immigration and has undergone a lawsuit for his
immigration practices. After voters and taxpayers were complaining about the lack of
supervision on Arizonas borders, Arpaio took it upon himself to not only manage the jail, but to
run his own border patrol. This effort brought him large amounts of popularity with voters and
campaign contributors, but also a law suit for almost 45 million dollars after his task force was
sued by a group of Latinos for discrimination and use of brute force. (Arpaio) After being tried in
district court, Arpaio was found guilty for arresting Latinos illegally, abusing them in the jail
system and failing to investigate hundreds of sexual assault claims. On top of the lawsuit

Maricopa County was required to implement costly department changes including body cameras
and a computerized system that detects signs of disorderly conduct. This case comes after a
separate profiling case 75 million dollars against Sheriff Joe himself. (King)
Tent city has also incurred almost two million dollars in lawsuits on its own as well.
Inmates have successfully sued the county for the inhumane conditions in tent city. Arpaio
reminds of each of the inmates that if they cant take the heat, they can be rotated into the
buildings. Most of the prisoners choose to stay outside instead of enduring the hazing that
occurs when they cant take the heat. But that doesnt mean that they dont sue when they
leave tent city. (King)
Another memorable lawsuit against the county jail was the case of Brian Crenshaw.
Crenshaw was a mentally disabled blind man who suffered fatal injuries after being picked up for
shoplifting. At first, his injuries were blamed on a fall from his bunk bed onto the cement floor,
but further investigation revealed that he was beaten to death. The law suit was only price tagged
at two million dollars because the video evidence was accidently destroyed before they could be
viewed by the attorneys. (Altheide)
Because of his controversial prison practices Maricopa has lost its accreditation on
multiple occasions and some federal judges have made statements that Arpaio is continuing to
run a prison that violates the basic rights of the prisoners that are sent there. The department of
justice also agreed with the concern of the federal judges, and notified Arpaio that an
investigation into his practices would be launched. The investigation closed a few months later
and no charges were brought against the sheriff. (King)

So is Sheriff Joe Arpaio practicing unethical treatment and violating the rights of the
inmates he tends to and placing a black mark on the American justice system? No. Maricopa
County upholds the original idea that the justice system was put into place to rehabilitate
criminals. Yes, tent city has some conditions that are harsh conditions that would be very hard to
tolerate and the chain gangs and pink underwear are certainly humiliating. However, these
conditions are not required they only ease the harassment that the inmates receive from the
guards and peers. Prisoners have no rights against humiliation, but at least at this jail they are
given a choice to how they want their stay in the county jail to go. (Altheide)That is more than
what is given at other places of incarceration. Sheriff Joe has reminded the criminal justice
system that inmates need to be punished for their crimes and they should not receive more
communities in jail than students receive in school. (Arpaio)
It is certain that more of the criminal justice system should be modeled after the example
that has been set by Sheriff Joe. However they should be more careful with their subordinates, in
the future however everyone will have a body cam, so control over peers will be easier, a
department cannot exist indefinitely with too many lawsuits. Special care should be taken to
avoid some of the problems Sheriff Joe has acquired.

Bibliography
Altheide, David. Creating Fear: News and the Construction of Crisis. 2002.
Arpaio, Joe. Joe's Law: America's Toughest Sheriff Takes on Illegal Immigration,
Drugs... 2008.
King, James. Joe Arpaio: Americas Toughest Sheriff Comes At A Hefty Price. 03 04
2015. 25 11 2015. <http://www.vocativ.com/underworld/crime/joe-arpaioamericas-toughest-sherif-comes-with-a-hefty-price-tag/>.