Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio officially facing criminal contempt charges
Joe Arpaio, the sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona, who has garnered national attention for his hardline approach to dealing with undocumented immigrants, was officially charged on Tuesday with criminal contempt of court.
The Justice Department said two weeks ago that Arpaio, 84, would be charged, but the misdemeanor count was not officially filed until Tuesday. Arpaio is serving his fifth term as sheriff, and is up for re-election in two weeks; if convicted, he could face up to six months in jail. In December 2011, a judge issued a court order that banned Arpaio's deputies from detaining people based only on the suspicion they were an undocumented immigrant and without cause to believe they committed a crime, The Arizona Republic reports. The judge determined two years later that Arpaio's office had racially profiled Latinos, with officers continuing to detain undocumented immigrants for more than a year after the original court order. Arpaio has said he unintentionally defied the order. The trial is set to begin on Dec. 6.
Arpaio's opponent in the sheriff's race, Paul Penzone, called the charge "another example of the sheriff putting his own personal objectives ahead of the best interest of the community at our expense." Arpaio's lawyer, Mel McDonald, said his client will plead not guilty, and they "believe that when the final chapter is written, he will be vindicated." Arpaio has been investigated before, including four years ago when it was alleged he retaliated against two police officers and a judge by accusing them of corruption. So far, Maricopa County taxpayers have had to pay $48 million to defend Arpaio in the racial profiling case, and that number is expected to balloon up to $72 million by next summer, The Associated Press reports.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
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.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
5 ways to help the environment while on vacation
The Week Recommends An afternoon of planting trees could be the best part of your trip
By Catherine Garcia, The Week US Published
-
Doctors are taking on dental duties in low-income areas
Under the radar Physicians are biting into the dentistry industry
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
Instagram hopes that blurring nudity in messages will make teens safer
The Explainer The option will be turned on by default for users under 18
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
ATF finalizes rule to close 'gun show loophole'
Speed Read Biden moves to expand background checks for gun buyers
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Hong Kong passes tough new security law
Speed Read It will allow the government to further suppress all forms of dissent
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
France enshrines abortion rights in constitution
speed read It became the first country to make abortion a constitutional right
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Texas executes man despite contested evidence
Speed Read Texas rejected calls for a rehearing of Ivan Cantu's case amid recanted testimony and allegations of suppressed exculpatory evidence
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Supreme Court wary of state social media regulations
Speed Read A majority of justices appeared skeptical that Texas and Florida were lawfully protecting the free speech rights of users
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Greece legalizes same-sex marriage
Speed Read Greece becomes the first Orthodox Christian country to enshrine marriage equality in law
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Trump and his lawyer Alina Habba have a rough day in defamation court
Speed Read Trump's audible grousing as E. Jean Carroll testified earned him a warning he could be thrown out of court, and Habba showed she 'doesn't know what the hell she's doing'
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Anders Breivik to testify in prison isolation lawsuit against Norway
Speed Read Far-right fanatic who killed 77 people in 2011 claims he has received 'inhuman treatment' in custody
By The Week UK Published