Sheriff Joe Arpaio on New Times Suit: 'I Welcome Being Sued'
By AAN Staff
april 30, 2008 11:29 am
The Maricopa County sheriff "reacted with bluster" to the news that he was named in a
suit filed yesterday by
Phoenix New Times, the
Arizona Republic reports. "They can't take their own medicine, so they have to be like crybabies and file a lawsuit against the sheriff and the county attorney," Arpaio says. "So you know what? I welcome the lawsuit. I welcome being sued. They're going to have to answer a lot of questions." Arpaio also defended the rationale behind
the original probe. "It became a problem when they put my name illegally on the web," he says. "And that became a problem for me and my family. A big problem."
New Times founder Michael Lacey defended the suit, calling the actions of Arpaio and the other defendants "unprecedented. ... They locked up journalists for something they've written, not for something they've withheld," he says.