ADL Applauds DOJ’s Lawsuit Against the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office

Date: May 11, 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Bill Straus, Arizona ADL Regional Director (602) 274-0991

ADL Applauds DOJ’s Lawsuit Against the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office

Phoenix, AZ, May 11, 2012.... The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today applauded the U.S. Department of Justice’s decision to file a lawsuit against the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office in Arizona to stop their discriminatory and unconstitutional law enforcement practices.

Arizona Regional Board Chair, Miriam Weisman and Regional Director Bill Straus said in a statement:

“We are gratified that the DOJ continues to seek legal remedies to the discriminatory policies and racial profiling allegedly carried out by Sheriff Joe Arpaio and the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office against the Latino community. We are saddened that Sheriff Arpaio refuses to accept the results of the DOJ’s investigation and has rejected their proposal for an independent monitor that could help his department carry our fair and reasonable reforms.”

In April 2008, after receiving numerous complaints from citizens, the ADL wrote a letter to the U.S. Attorney General’s Office asking that the DOJ open an investigation into allegations of profiling on the part of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.