Posted on 08/29/2016 6:58:46 PM PDT by Seizethecarp
A darling of the far right and a longtime adversary of civil-rights groups and immigration activists, Americas toughest sheriff will soon face Justice Department lawyers in Washington in a years-long legal saga over whether he intentionally defied federal orders to stop racially profiling Latinos.
A special section of the Justice Department dedicated to investigating corruption in publicly elected offices will decide whether Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio should face criminal contempt-of-court charges, according to a ruling filed in U.S. District Court on Friday.
The decision followed several other blows for the Arizona sheriff in the protracted case. In May, U.S. District Court Judge G. Murray Snow ruled that Arpaio and his aides Chief Deputy Jerry Sheridan, Capt. Steve Bailey and his former attorney, Michele Iafrate had intentionally ignored federal orders to stop racially profiling Latinos at traffic stops and in saturation patrols of predominantly Latino neighborhoods.
On Aug. 19, Snow referred the sheriff and three of his associates to be prosecuted for criminal contempt of court.
The decision was almost without precedent, so unusual that even the Justice Department initially seemed unsure of what, exactly, would happen next.
Arpaio vowed to challenge the referral and will refuse to accept a plea agreement or resign as sheriff, his defense attorney told The Post. It is unclear what lasting consequences the threat of criminal prosecution will have for the Republican sheriff, who is unlikely to be jailed and is up for reelection in November.
Legal experts said Snows referral was a symbolic one: Even if Arpaio is prosecuted, contempt of court is a misdemeanor that carries a maximum of six months in jail, and it is not likely that Arpaio would spend much time behind (his own) bars.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Here is the WaPo take on Sheriff Arpaio being referred to the US DOJ for criminal prosecution and already gleefully convicting him in the headline for racial profiling!
Down in the article they get around to admitting that Snow’s action is only “symbolic”...right before Arpaio’s primary election, of course!
So unfair! Loretta Lynch is in a frenzy.
You are fast on the trigger tonight!
It ain’t profiling if it’s extremely efficient.
Those WaPo maroons. Waah.
They are not going to get Arpaio to be their political prisoner.
Just what the hell is “racial profiling’????????
This is election year drama. As soon as the election is over, the charges will evaporate.
The court ordered the Sheriff to no longer engage in behavior that really doesn’t constitute a crime. There is really no definition of “profiling” in federal law and no statute.
Racial profiling is a criminal act ?
I would like to see the cite for that....
They misspelled persecution.
And gutless Republican leaders do nothing ...
It is pretty much a given that this judge is out to get Arpaio. The judge is a disgrace to the bench.
we are living under a Fascist administration
Not here.
Hitlery’s Star Chamber has already begun to function; it’s reminiscent of the Arkancide trails.
Sheriff Joe bump. Wish we had several hundred more just like him.
This is really payback for the birth certificate investigation IMO
The racial profiling aspect is just a ruse
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