'America's Toughest Sheriff' Joe Arpaio found in contempt of court

Joe Arpaio
(Image credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Sheriff Joe Arpaio of the Phoenix area, known nationally for being notoriously hard on unauthorized immigrants, was found to be in contempt of court Friday for disobeying a federal judge's order in a racial profiling case, The New York Times reports.

Self-branded as "America's Toughest Sheriff," the six-term official was found, along with current and former aides, to have participated in "multiple acts of misconduct, dishonesty, and bad faith" in racially profiling Latinos at traffic stops, said Judge G. Murray Snow. The case may be referred for criminal contempt after a May 31 hearing, which could stick Arpaio with fines and even jail time.

Arpaio, 83, plans to run for a seventh term in the Maricopa County office in November.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Julie Kliegman

Julie Kliegman is a freelance writer based in New York. Her work has appeared in BuzzFeed, Vox, Mental Floss, Paste, the Tampa Bay Times and PolitiFact. Her cats can do somersaults.