“America’s toughest sheriff” just suffered another defeat at the hands of a federal judge.
U.S. District Court Judge Murray Snow on Friday ordered another judge to rule on whether Joe Arpaio, the Republican sheriff of Arizona’s Maricopa County, and a deputy should be held in criminal contempt of court for repeatedly ignoring court orders to stop racially profiling Latinos.
The 84-year-old Arpaio, who has been sheriff of the metropolitan Phoenix area for 23 years and is running for reelection, was an early supporter of Donald Trump and spoke at the Republican National Convention last month. Arpaio, a hero on the right for his aggressive stance on illegal immigration, warned in his prime-time address that the federal government had allowed "terrorists coming over our border, infiltrating our communities, and causing massive destruction and mayhem.”
Snow’s referral means Arpaio could face criminal fines or even jail time. If he is convicted of a felony, he would need to step down.
In May, Snow — who was tapped for the federal bench in 2007 by President George W. Bush — found Arpaio in contempt of court, ruling that he and his aides had repeatedly ignored court orders to stop racially profiling Latinos.
“The Court finds that the Defendants have engaged in multiple acts of misconduct, dishonesty, and bad faith,” Snow wrote on May 13. “They have demonstrated a persistent disregard for the orders of the Court, as well as an intention to violate and manipulate the laws and policies regulating their conduct.”
The case stems from Snow’s ruling on a 2011 lawsuit, when he found that Arpaio’s office was unfairly singling out Latino drivers for special scrutiny and ordered that the practice be stopped. Two years later, Snow found that Arpaio had intentionally flouted his order, citing the sheriff’s own public comments, such as a 2012 interview with Fox News in which he declared, “I’m not stopping anything” and said he was “not going to bend to the federal government.”
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/joe-arpaio-racial-profiling-court-order-227226#ixzz4IbEKER4v
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