Joe Arpaio convicted of contempt of court

[Independent voter]

Who is Joe Arpaio? He was the sheriff of Phoenix Arizona, a darling of the right wing and a foe of the left. He did things like putting prisoners in tents, making them wear old fashioned striped convict uniforms and making them work on things like weed removal and picking up litter.

Perhaps his biggest offense in the eyes of some was arresting illegal aliens for being in the country illegally.

Well now a judge has convicted Joe of contempt of court. It will be interesting to see if he does jail time.

Sheriff is an elected position and for years voters kept reelecting him so Joe is a product of democracy you could say.



https://apnews.com/b5e9868093e043a998e4c80b2a235626

PHOENIX (AP) — The political defiance that made Joe Arpaio popular and seemingly untouchable as metro Phoenix’s sheriff of 24 years ultimately led to his downfall Monday as he was convicted of a crime for ignoring a U.S. court order to stop traffic patrols that targeted immigrants.

The TV interviews and news releases that the media-savvy lawman used over the years to promote his immigration crackdowns came back to bite him. The judge who found him guilty of misdemeanor contempt of court cited comments Arpaio made about keeping up the patrols, even though he knew he was not allowed.

“Not only did defendant abdicate responsibility, he announced to the world and to his subordinates that he was going to continue business as usual no matter who said otherwise,” U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton wrote.

The verdict marked a final rebuke for a politician who once drew strong support from such crackdowns but was booted from office last year as voters got frustrated with his deepening legal troubles and headline-grabbing tactics, such as jailing inmates in tents during triple-degree summer heat and making them wear pink underwear.

Arpaio told The Associated Press that he didn’t have an immediate comment on the verdict, but his attorneys said they will appeal. The 85-year-old is set to be sentenced Oct. 5 and could face up to six months in jail, but attorneys who have followed the case doubt someone his age would be incarcerated.

Critics said the verdict that followed a five-day trial in Phoenix was a long-awaited comeuppance for a lawman who had managed to escape accountability through much of his six terms.

Lydia Guzman, a Latino civil rights advocate and longtime Arpaio critic, said the sheriff was partly responsible for Arizona’s reputation as a place that’s intolerant of immigrants.

“He is the one who led the rally against immigrants, and the legislators followed suit,” Guzman said, noting Arizona’s landmark 2010 immigration law. “I hope a lot of this is erased and that Arizona can go back to being a normal state. I don’t know when that will be.”

Prosecutors say Arpaio ignored the 2011 order from a different U.S. judge so he could promote his immigration enforcement efforts in an effort to boost his 2012 re-election campaign. That judge later ruled the traffic patrols racially profiled Latinos.

The sheriff had acknowledged prolonging his patrols for nearly a year and a half but insisted it was not intentional. He also blamed one of his former attorneys in the racial profiling case for not properly explaining the importance of the court order.

Bolton rejected all Arpaio’s key arguments, saying the attorney had clearly informed him of the order and that a top aide also read part of it aloud to him during a staff meeting.

His lawyers contend the former sheriff’s fate should have been decided by a jury, not a judge. They also said Bolton violated Arpaio’s rights by not reading the decision in court.

“Her verdict is contrary to what every single witness testified in the case,” his lawyers said in a statement. “Arpaio believes that a jury would have found in his favor, and that it will.”

His defense had focused on what his attorneys said were weaknesses in the court order that failed to acknowledge times when deputies would detain immigrants and later hand them over to federal authorities.

Unlike other local police leaders who left immigration enforcement to U.S. authorities, Arpaio made hundreds of arrests in traffic patrols that sought out immigrants and business raids in which his officers targeted immigrants who used fraudulent IDs to get jobs.

The efforts are similar to local immigration enforcement that President Donald Trump has advocated. To build his highly touted deportation force, Trump is reviving a long-standing program that deputizes local officers to enforce federal immigration law.

Arpaio’s immigration powers were eventually stripped away by the courts and federal government.

The contempt-of-court case marked the first time federal authorities had prosecuted Arpaio on a criminal charge, though his office had been the subject of past investigations.

Federal authorities had looked into Arpaio’s misspending of $100 million in jail funds and his criminal investigations of political enemies. Neither investigation led to prosecution of the sheriff or his employees.

Arpaio’s criminal charges are believed to have contributed heavily to his crushing defeat in November to Paul Penzone, a little-known retired Phoenix police sergeant.

He was ousted in the same election that sent Trump to the White House. Trump used some of the same immigration rhetoric that helped make Arpaio a national figure in the debate over the U.S.-Mexico border.

Cecillia Wang, an attorney who helped press the racial profiling case against Arpaio, said his fate is a cautionary tale for police bosses who want to get into immigration enforcement.

“What was a lark to him in going after undocumented immigrants was terrible, not only for the people he hurt but also for his own agency and his career,” Wang said. “His career will go down as ending with his conviction.”

[Doctor Amadeus]

Yeah, I was reading this a few hours ago, I don't think it will stick.

There are already Trumpsters rallying to suggest the judge was a plant by the Clintons.

[lockedout]

Perhaps his biggest offense in the eyes of some was arresting illegal aliens for being in the country illegally.

Well he sure has some nerve huh?

[Doctor Amadeus]

Well he sure has some nerve huh?

Yes especially when there are far more pressing crimes happening that could use that attention.

[Deleted]

Yes especially when there are far more pressing crimes happening that could use that attention.

O no, someone is getting shot. Lets just ignore the guy getting stabbed over there.

[Kaleredar]

Well he sure has some nerve huh?

More problematic was probably the racial profiling included in the deportation campaigns that exceeded his jurisdiction that he was legally told to cease.


But I mean, if you're for government employees assuming authority they don't have and overstepping their boundaries as they see fit...

[Doctor Amadeus]

O no, someone is getting shot. Lets just ignore the guy getting stabbed over there.

Well if all you do is go around looking for guys who are going to stab someone and nothing else, which is exactly what he does.

[Deleted]

Well if all you do is go around looking for guys who are going to stab someone and nothing else, which is exactly what he does.

Looking around for illegal aliens now creates illegal aliens?
No they are there, he wants to get rid of them. If someone is in a country illegally he/she/it should be deported.

Stop making up shit excuses MallCop. Jesus.

[Doctor Amadeus]

Looking around for illegal aliens now creates illegal aliens?
No they are there, he wants to get rid of them. If someone is in a country illegally he/she/it should be deported.

Stop making up shit excuses MallCop. Jesus.

I didn't say it created illegal aliens, I did however point out this guys crusade on the dime of all the tax payers for the very few misguided and paranoid while bigger problems aren't being tackled that would make more people safer.

[Deleted]

Too bad he's too old and too white to actually go to prison. He will go to his grave, though, soon enough, being 85, which I suppose is a consolation.

[SageKalzi]

Being convicted of continuing to go after immigrants or illegal immigrants? I really wish it was legal to enforce the law, it's pretty fucking stupid that just because you don't want criminals to keep committing a crime you yourself get into trouble.

Too bad he's too old and too white to actually go to prison. He will go to his grave, though, soon enough, being 85, which I suppose is a consolation.

You're right, what a prick, he deserves to die for doing his job. By the way, your country is starting to push illegal immigrants out as well.

[8bithamster]

I didn't say it created illegal aliens, I did however point out this guys crusade on the dime of all the tax payers for the very few misguided and paranoid while bigger problems aren't being tackled that would make more people safer.

Don't use that logic here.. people will just scream one of the following:

"yea but all the illegal aliens do that so it's worth the effort!" (optional roswell, area 51 reference because they want to be witty)
"Yea but that is all false news, overlord trump has decreed it so!"
etc
etc

Plain logic generally doesn't work sadly

[Doctor Amadeus]

Don't use that logic here.. people will just scream one of the following:

"yea but all the illegal aliens do that so it's worth the effort!" (optional roswell, area 51 reference because they want to be witty)
"Yea but that is all false news, overlord trump has decreed it so!"
etc
etc

Plain logic generally doesn't work sadly

OH with the likens of folks like Clive Bundy who have no problem conveying every sentiment that they own every inch of everything, I am sure the law isn't all that important in this situation.

[Deleted]

You're right, what a prick, he deserves to die for doing his job.

Nah, he doesn't "deserve to die". It'll just be good news when he does. And, if he did deserve to die, it wouldn't be because he "did his job", but because of how he did it, and how he broke the law and all kinds of morality while doing so.

By the way, your country is starting to push illegal immigrants out as well.

Nah. See, terminology is important. What my country has been doing, and is doing, not "starting to do", is deporting asylum seekers whose requests for asylum have been denied, due to them not actually deserving asylum. They're not immigrants, either illegal or legal. In either case, while Joe there treated people like animals and shit, our country actually treats people as...well, people.

[8bithamster]

=

Nah. See, terminology is important. What my country has been doing, and is doing, not "starting to do", is deporting asylum seekers whose requests for asylum have been denied, due to them not actually deserving asylum. They're not immigrants, either illegal or legal.

Which is the correct way of handling things, but sadly that will be ignored

[PosPosPos]

"jailing inmates in tents during triple-degree summer heat and making them wear pink underwear."

That was part of his job too?

Addendum: this included inmates on remand.

Of course this is not supposed to make things seem worse or better, since the ban on cruel and unusual punishment also applies to the convicted - just that the ones harping over punishing criminals should also note this also affected those who are innocent.

[Deleted]

Could someone wwith a better grasp of US law explain the situation in more plain english, why was there a court order issued to restrict arrests of criminal immigrants?

[PosPosPos]

Could someone wwith a better grasp of US law explain the situation in more plain english, why was there a court order issued to restrict arrests of criminal immigrants?

Hmm, how about the fact he was not given any lawful authority to do so?

[Kellorion]

Well he sure has some nerve huh?

That wasnt his job, and he was ordered several times by the courts to stop doing it. There are better agencies for that.

[PosPosPos]

That wasnt his job, and he was ordered several times by the courts to stop doing it. There are better agencies for that.

On the bright side, it means random whorus like us get to do the job of the PotUS, right? After all, it's what the alt-right are advocating - it's okay to overstep boundaries and subvert the law.