Richard to Thomas: “man-up” to Arpaio

Speaking with Gerald Richard’s campaign earlier on this whole Sheriff Joe, Andrew Thomas versus the media matter. This is what I was told:

Gerald Richard believes Andrew Thomas is violating his oath of office by encouraging and participating in a full-scale assault on the first amendment rights of the Arizona media and the public’s right to know.

Some background for my out of state readers:
 
Through a special prosecutor he appointed, Thomas authorized the arrests of the publisher and the owner of the New Times because of stories critical of Sheriff Joe Arpaio.  Thomas claimed the two men violated state law by publishing Arpaio’s home address in the on-line versions of the stories, even though that address is publicly available through a number of other websites.  Thomas also sought notes, e-mails and other research related to the stories, plus detailed information on everyone who had visited the New Times website over the past four years.  The newspaper called it “a breathtaking abuse of the U.S. Constitution.” Such actions by the County’s top prosecutor should send a chill down the spine of freedom-loving people everywhere.

New Times stories have also mentioned Thomas’s home address.  Those stories were referred to by a channel 12 TV reporter.  In retaliation, supporters of Thomas (including some involved in the 2004 “swift-boating” of Presidential candidate John Kerry) launched a website dedicated to revealing the home addresses and telephone numbers of every reporter in greater Phoenix (except for those perceived to be friendly to Thomas).  Thomas stood by silently and let it happen.
 
Thomas has condoned and even supported efforts by Sheriff Arpaio to limit media access to information, interviews and news releases.  The most recent involves Channel 12 checking out a tip that a Sheriff’s spokesman had been involved in a DUI.  No story was ever aired, but the Sheriff has ordered the station to send its requests for interviews and public records to a law firm contracted by the County Attorney’s office that charges $150 an hour.  This despite the Sheriff already employing five public information officers. 
 
Sheriff Arpaio has lost several court challenges to his media access policies, including his refusal to send department news releases to the West Valley View newspaper, and his slow response to a public records request from the Tucson Citizen.  These cases have cost taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars in penalties and legal fees.  Again, Andrew Thomas stood by silently and let it happen.

From his campaign:

Gerald Richard believes it is time for Andrew Thomas to “man-up” against the unconstitutional actions of the sheriff and his own special prosecutor.  Gerald Richard believes the public has the absolute right to know what elected officials are doing with taxpayer dollars.  Gerald believes Andrew Thomas’s support of the Sheriff’s tactics, and his failure to speak out against this systematic assault on our constitutional rights, makes him unfit to continue in office.