Joe Arpaio Faces Contempt Charges As Feds Grab Him By The Posse

Good... good... let the hate flow through you...

That howl of outrage you just heard coming all the way from Arizona was Joe Arpaio and his supporters reacting to the news that federal prosecutors will file criminal contempt of court charges against the Maricopa County Sheriff, merely because he completely ignored a federal judge's 2011 order to stop doing immigration patrols based on racial profiling. How's that for swift justice?

Arpaio’s charge stems from a December 2011 federal court order that barred his agency from enforcing federal immigration law. It is alleged that his deputies continued to do so, however, for at least 18 months thereafter.

The charge -- which has not been filed yet -- comes as Arpaio campaigns for reelection to a seventh term as sheriff, and for all we know he may use it as an argument for his reelection, seeing as how voters in Maricopa county have almost limitless affection for the civil-rights-ignoring old fascist hate sow, even though his dumb immigration sweeps diverted so many resources from real law enforcement that led to slower deputy response times and no investigations at all of some violent crimes, including at least a dozen sexual assaults. But he was Gittin' Tuff on Messicans, so he kept getting reelected. A little old contempt of court may be just the boost he needs.

[wonkbar]https: //wonkette.substack.com/p/man-nabbed-in-horsefcking-sting-not-even-from-florida[/wonkbar]Besides, since Arpaio's 84, the judge recommended a maximum sentence of just six months, so Arpaio can get right back to his important work of sheriffing, which includes such important matters as preventing horsefucking and investigating Barack Obama's birth certificate. 

For a full backgrounder on the racial profiling case against Arpaio, see this detailed Arizona Republic story; the judge in that case, U.S. District Court Judge G. Murray Snow, already found Arpaio and three aides in civil contempt in that case; the criminal contempt case hinges on whether Arpaio and his staffers deliberately ignored Snow's orders. They maintain that their violations of the order -- which they admitted, hence the civil contempt finding -- were completely unintentional, because sometimes you just find yourself racially profiling Latinos without even realizing you're doing it.

Along the way, there have also been fun sideshows like Arpaio's hiring a private detective to "investigate" whether Judge Snow's wife was biased against him somehow, and Arpaio's attempt at crowdfunding his defense, because all the big mean Latino groups were out to get him. Also, the poor fellow just seems to piss off judges for some reason.

We'll keep you updated on subsequent twists of Arpaio's legal saga, none of which appear likely to end with Arpaio in a tent in the desert in summer, wearing pink underpants and eating green baloney, because the federal court system actually eschews gratuitous humiliation of inmates.

[ AzCentral / Politico ]