A Mexican woman – a former inmate in Maricopa County, Arizona – claims in a lawsuit that sheriff's officers mistreated her during and after her pregnancy, including shackling her while she was in labor and after her Caesarean section.
The federal suit filed by Miriam Mendiola-Martinez this week comes days after the U.S. Department of Justice alleged the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, under the leadership of Sheriff Joe Arpaio, engaged in a pattern of discrimination against Latinos.
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The Justice Department's release of the report critical of Arpaio's law-enforcement techniques coincides with the Arizona lawman's "Cold Case Posse" investigation into Barack Obama's presidential eligibility.
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Arpaio plans to release a preliminary report in February of its findings, which he expects to be "controversial."
"This is a serious law enforcement investigation, and our findings are going to be controversial but based in facts," the Maricopa County sheriff told WND. Arpaio said a comprehensive report will be issued shortly after the February preliminary report.
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"The investigators on the Cold Case Posse are doing a great job," Arpaio told WND. "They are all law enforcement professionals, and they are all volunteers putting in a lot of hours at no taxpayer expense."
Arpaio confirmed that the Obama investigation has broadened beyond an examination of whether or not the birth certificate made public by the White House on April 27 is an authentic document. The probe, he said, is examining Obama's history in regard to his eligibility to be president under Article 2, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution.
"We are not taking the Obama investigation lightly," Arpaio said. "The Cold Case Posse is actively tracking down all leads received, because the people deserve to know the truth."
