Among our nation’s 50 states, Arizona has often held the undesirable distinction as one of America’s most politically backward places. From being one of the only states outside of the American South to allow segregation in public schools in the '50s to more recent controversies such as SB 1070, Arizona has repeatedly been the focal point of national debate for all the wrong reasons. Unfortunately, several prominent Arizona politicians have further contributed to this reputation in the last week.
In his contempt of court hearing this past week, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio claimed he was unaware of a 2013 court order by U.S. District Court Judge Murray Snow to end the department’s discriminatory practices, such as racially profiling people of color in traffic stops.
Arpaio’s defense has been heavily — and rightfully — scrutinized in court. The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Department has long been the subject of state and federal lawsuits claiming discriminatory practices, and Judge Snow’s ruling was national news at the time. Either the sheriff was entirely incompetent, or he willfully disobeyed a court order to end racial profiling.
#Arpaio's pettiness, vengefulness, and criminality effectively have been unmasked: http://t.co/745waUbtrG #ArpaioContempt
— PhoenixNewTimes (@phoenixnewtimes) October 7, 2015
Sadly, Arpaio’s absurd defense is not even the most ridiculous piece of news to emerge from the void that is Arizona politics in recent months.
In the last week, Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Diane Douglas has once again embarrassed her state and party with an outlandish education plan. The merits of the plan are questionable. In addition, Douglas has failed to recognize that she lacks the authority to even enact her plan.
Republic View: @_DianeDouglas reform plan just won't sail http://t.co/9XrwqNgiy9 via @azcentral
— YvonneWingettSanchez (@yvonnewingett) October 4, 2015
Instituting her educational goals would require approval from the Arizona Board of Education, the governor and the state Legislature. The board is currently suing Douglas in response to unfounded assault allegations against the head of the board; Douglas and Gov. Doug Ducey (R) continue to fight over Douglas’ shameless attempt to fire members of the board with whom she disagreed, and Douglas has shown a complete lack of interest in the authority or concerns of the legislature.
Moreover, the Arizona Attorney General’s office continues to investigate members of the Arizona Corporation Commission for serious conflicts of interests.
Arizona politics is once again a comedy of errors and apathetic voters have contributed to the current state of affairs. We, the voters of this state, once again elected Arpaio in 2012 despite the numerous investigations and lawsuits brought against his office. Similarly, we elected Douglas on silent campaign platform that raised doubts among many concerned voters.
Yet the same democratic processes that put Arpaio and Douglas in office also give us, Arizona voters, the opportunity to remove them from office. A recall effort is currently underway to remove Douglas from office; it requires a mere fraction of the state’s registered voters to initiate a recall.
Similarly, if Arpaio is once again able to evade prosecution (as he has so often done in the past), the residents of Maricopa County can show him that this county is not his fiefdom by voting him out of office in 2016. While November 2016 may seem like the distant future, it is never too early to coordinate efforts to remove this perennial fixture of Arizona politics from office.
For too long, legislative actions such as SB 1062 and 1070 have earned Arizona a reputation as a politically backward state. Elected leaders such as Arpaio and Douglass only further this impression at the national level. It is time for the voters of this state to take a stand and remove these unethical and incompetent leaders from office.
Reach the columnist at clmurph5@asu.edu or follow @ConnorLMurphy on Twitter.
Editor’s note: The opinions presented in this column are the author’s and do not imply any endorsement from The State Press or its editors.
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