Arizona’s public shame, Sheriff Joe Arpaio, along with three of his minions, was just found in contempt of federal court.
A federal judge ruled that the Maricopa County lawman and three of his top aides violated a federal court order meant to curtail racial profiling in his agency, according to a ruling issued Friday.
The civil contempt-of-court ruling from U.S. District Judge Murray Snow, which held Arpaio in contempt on three counts, brings to an end a lengthy proceeding that started a year ago when Snow convened a series of hearings in downtown Phoenix to determine whether Arpaio and his commanders defied Snow's court orders.
This is the end of a long, drawn out case that included all kinds of revelations as to how absolutely terrible Sheriff Joe Arpaio is. There’s a reason that Sheriff Joe costs his fiscally conservative supporters and the rest of Arizona’s taxpayers $200 million just being himself: lawmen that don’t like the law are liable for breaking the law. How much has this cost citizens? Sheriff Joe is the gift that keeps on giving:
The costs associated with the racial-profiling case now exceed $60 million, including at least $8.2 million in tax money tied to the outside attorneys required to represent all the parties in the ongoing legal proceedings.
Snow’s finding of contempt and the possibility of further criminal-contempt proceedings means those costs will only continue to rise.
Birds of a feather...