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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsSheriff Joe Arpaio is asking the public to help with his legal bills
An anti-immigrant Arizona sheriff is asking the public to help with his legal fees while he waits for a decision on a contempt of court hearing about his departments systemic racial profiling of suspected undocumented immigrants. In an email to supporters last week, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio wrote that he doesnt have the personal wealth to pay for a lawyer and felt targeted by pro-immigration reform advocacy groups that are suing him to stop his acts of racial bias against Latinos.
As the Los Angeles Times reported, Arpaio wrote in his email, In some instances I have to personally pay for attorneys to represent me in these cases. I do not have the personal wealth or the wherewithal to keep up with the costly demands of paying for attorneys to defend me.
The hearing stems from a May 2013 landmark ruling by U.S. District Judge G. Murray Snow who said that Arpaios office broke the law when he profiled Latinos during traffic and immigration stops. The ruling called on Arpaio and his officers to implement changes, like improving training and technology equipment, to show that the sheriffs office would no longer systemically single out Latinos. But since then, Arpaio has made insincere efforts to address racial biases, including holding court-required community outreach meetings in districts with few Latino residents and declining to show up at meetings
Arizona taxpayers already shell out a lot of money for Arpaio, who has racked up numerous violations and lawsuits and was ordered a court-appointed monitor for his unconstitutional racial profiling tactics.
Documents submitted by the Maricopa County Sheriffs Office last year in Arizona indicate that it would cost around $21.9 million for taxpayers to implement court recommendations to fix Arpaios acts racial bias. As of last year, Maricopa County ponied up $1.6 million in legal costs and expenses for Arpaios court proceedings. And an internal investigation found that Arpaios security detail cost taxpayers more than $120,000 between June 2012 and June 2013.http://thinkprogress.org/immigration/2015/05/25/3662524/arpaio-i-need-a-dollar-dollar-dollar/
marble falls
(57,081 posts)truebluegreen
(9,033 posts)it would be nice if the county, the state and the taxpayers who have been "supporting" this whack asked to be reimbursed...but they seem to like him fine.