Sheriff Joe Arpaio's mug-shot contest riles mental-health advocates
by JJ Hensley - Apr. 23, 2011 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic
More than 25 percent of inmates in Maricopa County Jail admit to being diagnosed with mental illness, so Sheriff Joe Arpaio stood a good chance of offending mental-health advocates when the Sheriff's Office recently launched a new online contest asking website visitors to vote for their favorite inmate-booking photos.
It took less than 24 hours for Arpaio to hit a nerve.
When the site debuted this week, 48-year-old Barbara Cyran - listless, unkempt and with a bit of spittle below her lip - was among the fan favorites.
Cyran is also mentally incompetent to stand trial, according to court-appointed experts whose opinions have led to the dismissal of trespassing and prostitution charges against her in the past two years.
Considering the residents of Arpaio's jails, many of whom deal with some combination of substance abuse, mental illness and physical ailments, the outcome of the online mug-shot game was predictable, said Charles "Chick" Arnold, a Phoenix attorney and longtime advocate for the mentally ill.
"While we might risk advancing (Arpaio's) publicity component, I think it's critical that we try to get in the way of this and stop this kind of exploitative behavior - because that's exactly what it is," Arnold said. "What he's doing seems to be to be exploiting people who have been defined in our state as vulnerable adults. That's offensive."
Offensive or not, the contest accomplished the sheriff's stated goal of bringing users to his website: Arpaio's new Web page attracted more than 135,000 visitors in its first four days of existence. The same page drew 191,000 visitors over the 30 days before that, according to the Sheriff's Office. FULL STORY
When CPS was putting me through their ungodly meat grinder and insane pack of lies and character assassination, I certainly was exploited as a "vulnerable adult". The only people who WOULDN'T BE are lawyers.
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