“Sheriff Arpaio did so based on the notoriety he received for, and the campaign donations he received because of, his immigration enforcement activity”, Snow wrote in the order (PDF). Arpaio has defended it, saying it has saved taxpayers millions of dollars.
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“I’m not a typical politician”, Arpaio said on-camera in the 2014 documentary “The Joe Show”. “I will stand around to defend this organization, and that’s the way it is”. Arpaio has made a national name for himself by harassing anyone who appears to be Latino and abusing prisoners by forcing them to sleep in tents outside despite intense heat and feeding them bread and water for a week after they allegedly desecrated American flags.
Arpaio told the Arizona Republic there will be “aggressive appeals” in the case. But he is more vulnerable in the general election face-off on November 8 against the race’s only Democrat, retired Phoenix police Officer Paul Penzone, said Mike O’Neil, who heads the O’Neil Associates polling firm in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe. The violations included disobeying an order to stop enforcing immigration and failing to disclose evidence.
“Law and order works unless you step over the line”, O’Neil said.
Now Sheriff Arpaio is facing the toughest legal fight of his life.
Arpaio, who has been sheriff of the Phoenix-area Maricopa County for decades, was previously found to have a “persistent disregard” for orders of the court telling him to work against racial profiling by his officers.
That led to bruising critique of sheriff’s office internal investigations into possible wrongdoing by employees and managers.
The judge on Friday recommended the Maricopa County sheriff and three of his subordinates face criminal prosecution over a yearslong racial profiling controversy.
Arpaio and his second-in-command were found in civil contempt months ago for intentionally ignoring an order to stop their immigration patrols.
A federal judge is asking the Arizona U.S. Attorney’s office to prosecute Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and three others for criminal contempt of court.
The judge also found there was probable cause to believe Arpaio’s deputy, Jerry Sheridan, and others violated orders in concealing almost 1,500 IDs in an internal investigation into whether officers pocketed items from people during traffic stops.
The legal costs for the profiling case along are projected to reach $54 million by next summer for taxpayers from Maricopa County, which has about 3.8 million residents and more land than the USA state of Vermont.
The recommendation does not guarantee Arpaio will be charged.
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“We know that this could be a long process, and so we’re here today to exert pressure and so that they know the interest there is on the part of the Latino community, who for years has suffered the sheriff’s harassment”, the activist said.
