DOJ Is Sorry If Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s Feelings Were Hurt When They Disclosed His Civil Rights Abuses
You know how when youre trying to avoid apologizing to someone whos upset you throw in a qualifier like sorry youre upset or sorry you feel that way? Thats the type of classic non-apology that a Justice Department official gave to officials representing Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio who were perturbed by the DOJs press conference announcing the findings of an investigation into wide-spread civil rights abuses in Arpaios office.
Arpaios people evidently didnt get that the DOJ official was trying to be polite. A press release from Arpaios office yesterday in conjunction with their letter responding to DOJ called the press conference a political sideshow that was both unfortunate and misleading and as such, prompted an apology to the Sheriffs Office by the second in command of the Department of Justices Civil Rights Division. A letter from attorneys for Arpaios people said that the DOJ official specifically apologized to us for not being able to control the timing or manner of the announcement of the investigations findings.
Now DOJ wants to clear things up.
Deputy Assistant Attorney General Roy Austin apologized if their feelings were hurt by the public release of the findings, DOJ spokeswoman Xochitl Hinojosa said in a statement to TPM, but he informed them that the civil rights division always publicly releases the findings of its law enforcement investigations because it is absolutely crucial to tell the people in the relevant community what was found so that the community is part of any necessary reform. Some examples include New Orleans, Puerto Rico and Seattle.
Full article with hyper-links within the article here: http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/01/doj_is_sorry_if_sheriff_joe_arpaios_feelings_were_hurt_when_they_disclosed_his_civil_rights_abuses.php
Oh, this is going to get good!