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BLOOD ON ARPAIO'S HANDS

Phillip Wilson, 40, was beaten to death by inmates.  When officers returned the contents of Phillip's wallet to his mother, family photographs,  his identification, and other personal items were missing.  What she got instead was his Fry's card and a handful of old receipts. Officers gave his mother a number of different explanations for the assault. They claimed that Phillip owed money to other inmates who attacked him in retaliation. Maricopa County officials have failed to produce any evidence to substantiate this claim. They also suggested that Phillip was murdered in an aggressive attempt to steal his onyx ring, which would have been taken from him when he was processed in the intake area. The ring was never returned to the family. Robert Butler died in a restraint-chair related incident. Charles Ward's body was removed from the Durango Jail a few hours before country crooner Glen Campbell started his set. Campbell had been picked up on a DUI, and received star treatment. He was allowed his own private cell in a Mesa jail.  Apparently, Arpaio's tough-on-crime, tough-on-inmates doesn't apply to celebrities. Men and women have died and will continue to die in Arpaio's dungeons as long as he is in office.

The cost of all these lives lost has been immense for the families of the victims. Unfortunately, all this blood comes with a bill, too, and it's tens of millions of dollars. So the next time Joe brags about how much money he's saving us by cramming inmates into his sweltering dungeons where they eat green bologna, Consider this: when all of the cases pending against Arpaio settle, the wrongful death suits may have cost Maricopa County taxpayers more than fifty million dollars, and will continue to cost us even long after he's out of office after these cases progress.  In fact, the debt Joe has straddled us with may well be his biggest legacy. It's probably an easier pill to swallow if you're in an air-conditioned penthouse in downtown Phoenix, but for Maricopa County taxpayers, the effects can be devastating. Currently, Arpaio is listed as the defendant in over fifteen hundred cases. Maricopa County taxpayers shouldn't have to keep paying for the blood on Joe's hands.