Update: Isabel Garcia’s Job Endangered by Jon “Jackass” Justice
August 9, 2008 4 Comments
So remember when I wrote about that radio host in Arizona who made racist jokes and sexually harassed an effigy of a brown woman who happens to be an outspoken pro-migrant activist and lawyer in his area?
Now, according to WOC PhD, Jackass’s efforts to have Isabel Garcia removed from her position as a public defender is in full swing. The Arizona state bar is investigating her because she participated in a protest against Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s latest book, full of racist and xenophobic diatribes against Latin@ immigrants. (This is the same Arpaio facing lawsuits from the ACLU for refusing to transport pregnant inmates to abortion clinics upon their requests and for racial profiling of Latin@s in Maricopa County.)
She is at risk of losing her legal license because of the Jackass.
Coalición de Derechos Humanos has prepared a letter of support for Isabel Garcia (PDF) that you can sponsor by e-mailing them. Please show your support, and if you have the time, send a letter of your own. Make a phone call. Ensure that Garcia does not lose her job because she dared to use her First Amendment rights to stand against racist rhetoric.
Contact Information:
1. Contact Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckleberry in support of Isabel Garcia. 520.740.8661 or e-mail: chh@pima.gov
2. Contact the Journal Broadcast Group, expressing your opinion of Jon Justice and the tactics of 104.1FM, and your concern that local KGUN 9 would be associated with an outlet that is so obviously NOT an objective media source. Contact Julie Brinks: 520.290.7600 or e-mail:jbrinks@journalbroadcastinggroup.com
3. Contact the Board of Supervisors, voicing your support of Isabel Garcia, who has broken no rule or regulation as a Pima County employee.Pima County Board of Supervisors
30 West Congress Street, 11th Floor
Tucson, Arizona 85701
Receptionist – (520) 740-8126
Fax – (520) 884-1152
Ann Day, District 1
Ann.Day@pima.gov
(520) 740-2738
Ramón Valadez, District 2
district2@pima.gov
(520) 740-8126
Sharon Bronson, District 3
district3@pima.gov
(520) 740-8051
Ray Carroll, District 4
district4@pima.gov
(520) 740-8094
Richard Elías, Chairman, District 5
district5@pima.gov
(520) 740-8126
And I have to admit: the more I learn about Isabel Garcia, the more she inspires me. From her statement:
I am proud to have been part of the community’s response to his arrival in Tucson. We stand committed to stop hatred and xenophobia, and to work for a society that respects human rights for everyone regardless of their age, color, race, ethnic background, gender, gender-preference, religion. As an attorney I find it is not only my right, but my responsibility to stand up when the power of the state is used to crush people. I will continue to do so.
As a future attorney and human rights activist, I absolutely agree. Amen.
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Update posted in my comments:
As I said before, I don’t think there is much change that the State Bar will find that she violated the rules of ethics. Nonetheless, there are still some people literally out for her blood.
Lisa’s link goes to an article that mentions Roy Warden.
I have seen this individual up close. I have had him threaten to blow my freaking head off when I deliberately walked too close to his fake perimeter at some thing he was staging.
He has been targeting Isabel and movement people in Tucson for some years now.
I wish people would understand that this person is acting. He is an actor putting on a show. He is not filled with hate as he pretends to be. He has no real affact. He may or may not be someone’s agent. He is most certainly a sociopath.
When I was working with Derechos Humanos, he was specifically targeting Isabel then too, among others. I was very frustrated by how he would play us with his over the top performances. He was often armed. He has people with him who are truly haters. But he is an actor. There’s too much to say here about how he played people here.
And you know, about Isabel, I sat in a courtroom listening to him rant, after he had gone to her workplace. If my memory serves, she was trying to get a TRO then.
Reacting to him as if what he is doing is really what he is doing is a mistake IMO
I don’t know if or how this is relevant. I don’t know what the local movement IN Tucson is doing about him now. But I do know that it is likely that when Roy Warden is involved, all is not what it appears. He is going for certain reactions from people/movements.
Be careful in reacting. Be careful.