Goldwater Institute Blasts Newspaper Arrests

The arrests of two ``New Times" executives, on charges of violating grand jury privacy, came under sharp criticism Friday from Clint Bolick, director of the Goldwater Institute's Center for Constitutional Litigation.

Bolick said grand jury subpoenas for the newspaper's files and the arrests of executive editor Michael Lacey and CEO Jim Larkin for publishing a story about the subpoenas made Phoenix seem more like a police state than a free society.

Lacey, executive editor of Village Voice Media, and Jim Larkin, CEO of the Phoenix-based chain -- which publishes the weekly alternative newspaper, were arrested at their homes Thursday, the same day their story was published. Capt. Paul Chagolla, a spokesman for Sheriff Joe Arpaio, said the arrests were made at the request of County Attorney Andrew Thomas. The charge of violating grand jury secrecy is a misdemeanor.

Lacey said county authorities want every story ``New Times" has written about Arpaio since Jan. 1, 2004, and all notes, tapes and records of reporters.

The subpoenas also seek online profiles of anyone who read four specific articles about Arpaio and profiles of anyone who visited the paper's Web site since Jan. 1, 2004.

``The subpoena against the `New Times' is possibly the broadest invasion of privacy and free speech rights that I've ever seen," Bolick said.

``The notion that thousands of readers of the `New Times' website would have their own Internet browsing investigated is absolutely appalling," he added, saying that private citizens might have to go to court personally to keep their information from being accessed.

``This is a huge deprivation of personal privacy and involves tens of thousands of innocent people," Bolick said.

He said the sheriff and the county attorney are public officials and should be held accountable by the public. He suggested people contact them, ``by writing those officials, by e-mail or otherwise, and just saying `Listen, you went a giant step too far.'"

Bolick said the subpoenas raise questions about the credibility of both Arpaio and Thomas.