Sheriff Joe Arpaio opened another circus act yesterday when his agents raided a social service agency. This followed federal racketeering suits against four judges, two county board supervisors and their attorneys. In the wee hours of the morning, Appeals Court Presiding Judge Maurice Portley signed a temporary order banning Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his goons from gaining access to the home computer of Superior Court Judge Barbara Mundell. Mundell is one of four judges named in a federal racketeering suit filed by Arpaio. This is the third time this year Sheriff Joe has tried to gain access to the computer files of Judge Mundell.
It is obvious that Arpaio is desperate to read the judge’s emails, but it seems as if he has hit a brick wall that is holding firm, for now. Arpaio has decided to take on very big fish this time and he is scrambling for all the evidence he can get that might help him. If that means he has to raid a non-profit social service office, and attempt to gain access to files on a Judge’s home computer then so be it. Only Arpaio’s twisted sense of absolute power would be able to justify something like this, let alone act upon it.