The lawyer rally could have been the moment of Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s greatest triumph, demonstrable proof that there was no one in Maricopa County with the guts to stand up to him. Instead, it was a shining moment of dignity and honor, where about 300 lawyers put their personal safety aside and their reputations on the line.
From the Phoenix New Times :
From the Phoenix New Times :
An estimated 300 people turned out to protest the reign of Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas in front of the county courthouse today — at least two-thirds of them local attorneys.
The noon rally was a surprising show of strength from a profession that generally prefers filing motions to openly agitating — and indeed, the few scattered immigration activists in the crowd definitely stuck out from the majority of protesters, who were older, whiter, and almost entirely clad in suits.
The rally, begun with an email sent by Phoenix criminal defense lawyer Jim Belanger, reflected the seriousness of purpose and breadth of support within the local legal community against Arpaio and his henchman, Thomas.
Attorney Tom Ryan kicked things off by explaining that he was neither a criminal defense lawyer, a Democrat, nor a liberal. “I’m a native of Chandler, Arizona, a Republican, and a lifelong East Valley conservative,” he said, setting things straight right out of the chute.
But, Ryan said, it was time for “all concerned men and women of the Bar to come together.”
“Andrew Thomas is a bully and a coward,” Ryan said, to cheers from the phalanx of lawyers, “who, when he does not get his way, abuses the awesome power of the county attorney in a misguided and unethical attempt to get his own way.”
The battle has now been joined. For the many supporters of Crazy Joe, who saw him as a populist saving them from the hordes of marauding illegals, while failing to comprehend why their savior can’t just do any darn thing he pleased (as long as it was somebody else, be it Mexican, politician or judge), the vision of white men in suits who charge by the hour using their own time, their own voices, to sing “America the Beautiful” may make some wonder whether they might be wrong about Arpaio.
But it’s just the first battle in a war that won’t be easily won.
Several Superior Court judges hovered on the periphery, listening in to the goings-on. One of them told us how frustrating it was for judges not to be able stand tall and tell the community at large what is going on these days downtown.
The judge said he had no feeling one way or the other at the moment for how all this is going to turn out. But, he added, that he is not so hopeful.
One rally is a start. A good start, but still just a start. No doubt that the judge appreciates the depth of the problems faced in Maricopa County far better than we do, as well as the fight they will face from Arpaio before any change is accomplished. Bear in mind, the lawyers and judges are constrained by the rules for which they are fighting. Arpaio has no constraints. He can fight as dirty as he wants, since no rules bind him.
At the Arizona Republic, there is an op-ed by Sheila Polk,who worked as a lawyer for the Sheriff the neighboring Yavapai County Attorney, who worked on Arpaio/Thomas cases for six months due to conflicsts of interest, until she couldn’t take it any longer. She turned back the files and took a shower. Now, she tells about it.
At the Arizona Republic, there is an op-ed by Sheila Polk,
My discomfort grew daily and my role in restraining potential abuses of power increasingly more difficult. It was a relief to package up the files and return them to Maricopa County.
Maricopa County is not my jurisdiction, but I can no longer sit by quietly and watch from a distance the abuses of power by Sheriff Arpaio and County Attorney Andrew Thomas.
I am conservative and passionately believe in limited government, not the totalitarianism that is spreading before my eyes.
The actions of Arpaio and Thomas are a disservice to the hundreds of dedicated men and women who work in their offices, and a threat to the entire criminal-justice system.
This is an act of bravery, as no one wants to come out as a traitor to a popular and powerful man with the anticipation of being smeared and crushed like a bug. Sheila Polk did it anyway. She took a huge personal risk.
I challenged the locals of Maricopa County to stand up for themselves if they wanted the continued support and interest of the rest of us. They have risen to the challenge. There is little we can accomplish from the outside without the willingness to stand up for what’s right by those on the inside. And now that they have come out and taken the risk of Arpaio’s wrath, the duty swings back to the rest of us to do what we can to support their effort, to back them up, to keep the battle moving forward.
Where is the Arizona Attorneys for Criminal Justice? Where is every bar association in Arizona? Does the Constitution, the abuse of law, mean nothing to them?
Where is the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers? Where are all the subsidiary state associations, even the ones who give awards to prosecutors?
Where are the national media outlets, the newspapers, the television news magazines?
Which side are you on, boys, which side are you on?
Addendum: It’s too early in the day for an update, but this must be added to the post. The ABA Journal posted a story about the rally as part of its “daily news.” No outcry. No opinion. Just another lawyer/cat in a tree story, to be overshadowed by the truly important things the ABA Journal does, like run contests for those with low self-esteem.
If the ABA Journal wants to take note of what’s happening in Maricopa County, then how about it have something meaningful to say about it. Cowards? Aloof? Irrelevant? If there was any question about the value of the ABA in the lives of lawyers, this should put it to rest. If the ABA Journal has nothing substantive to say while the lawyers of Maricopa County put their butts on the line, then the ABA has no reason to exist.
That’s right. Why don’t you throw another beauty pageant.
Update: Houston criminal defense lawyer Mark Bennett interviews Jim Belanger, the Phoenix lawyer who started today’s rally.
I challenged the locals of Maricopa County to stand up for themselves if they wanted the continued support and interest of the rest of us. They have risen to the challenge. There is little we can accomplish from the outside without the willingness to stand up for what’s right by those on the inside. And now that they have come out and taken the risk of Arpaio’s wrath, the duty swings back to the rest of us to do what we can to support their effort, to back them up, to keep the battle moving forward.
Where is the Arizona Attorneys for Criminal Justice? Where is every bar association in Arizona? Does the Constitution, the abuse of law, mean nothing to them?
Where is the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers? Where are all the subsidiary state associations, even the ones who give awards to prosecutors?
Where are the national media outlets, the newspapers, the television news magazines?
Which side are you on, boys, which side are you on?
Addendum: It’s too early in the day for an update, but this must be added to the post. The ABA Journal posted a story about the rally as part of its “daily news.” No outcry. No opinion. Just another lawyer/cat in a tree story, to be overshadowed by the truly important things the ABA Journal does, like run contests for those with low self-esteem.
If the ABA Journal wants to take note of what’s happening in Maricopa County, then how about it have something meaningful to say about it. Cowards? Aloof? Irrelevant? If there was any question about the value of the ABA in the lives of lawyers, this should put it to rest. If the ABA Journal has nothing substantive to say while the lawyers of Maricopa County put their butts on the line, then the ABA has no reason to exist.
That’s right. Why don’t you throw another beauty pageant.
Update: Houston criminal defense lawyer Mark Bennett interviews Jim Belanger, the Phoenix lawyer who started today’s rally.
Discover more from Simple Justice
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
That they read aloud their admissions oath popped out tears. Can’t help it.
Sir, recently a 16 year old boy (future candidate) wired up millions of both legal & illegal from a multitude of countries to protest. The next day our entire country went soft and we ended up allowing them all to stay & it even enticed more to come on down (or up).
But when lawyers cried out for help it only mustered 300 +/-. I’m not sure if we should be happy or ashamed? The thought of being teased & sprayed, while yelling “I’m a lawyer” probably kept some home. Like you said it’s a start. We need to find out if any of the 300 got harmed or arrested.
Speaking on behalf of the falsely arrested & wrongfully convicted, we (most of us) will be happy to assist lawyers and/or cops in need when they take a stand against bad cops & bad lawyers. Without one we wouldn’t have the other. Since only lawyers got the call to attend this rally, we can only wait for the next event or public challenge to join.
Thanks for keeping us in the United Counties of Texas up to date. Pooh on the media outlets, CNN & paper tiger associations.
The rally was open to anyone who cared to show. That 300 lawyers did was an amazing show of strength. If 10,000 wrongfully convicted defendants wanted to show, I don’t imagine they would have been turned away. There are no engraved invitations to the revolution.
Getting 300 lawyers to show up to something where there isn’t free booze is amazing.
Getting 300 lawyers to show up where there isn’t any free booze, there isn’t an opportunity to get clients, and there’s no money to be made is earth shattering.
Thomas, we should be happy. That’s an amazing showing.
“I challenged the locals of Maricopa County to stand up for themselves if they wanted the continued support and interest of the rest of us. They have risen to the challenge.”
There’s that back-patting you told us about!
True, but not quite the same (as you well know). That said, it does not come off at all the way it was intended, and does smell of self-aggrandizement. I do not take credit for what the Maricopa lawyers did, and make no suggestion that I played any role in the successful rally.
Is that better?
Social comments and analytics for this post
This post was mentioned on Twitter by ScottGreenfield: Addendum to Maricopa Lives post, about ABA’s worthlessness and irrelevance. http://bit.ly/8mf1PF