Deputy blames Arizona sheriff for disobeying court over immigration sweeps

By

A former supervisor in Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio's human smuggling unit said on Tuesday that the controversial lawman was responsible for disobeying a court's order that effectively shut down his high-profile immigration sweeps.

Arpaio, who bills himself as "America's toughest sheriff", attended the opening day of hearings to determine if he and four others should be held in civil contempt for violating court orders in a 2007 racial profiling case.

Sergeant Brett Palmer told the U.S. District Court in Phoenix that his efforts to push for deputies to be trained to comply with the court's order had been obstructed by Arpaio's stance and the immigration crackdowns continued.

Asked why he was rebuffed, Palmer said "it was contrary to the goals and the objectives of the sheriff."

The 82-year-old Arpaio, who heads the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, had no comment about the allegations made against him when asked during a break in the proceedings.

Palmer also said the prevailing rules at the sheriff's office were simple and direct.

"That it's our duty to make the sheriff look good to the media and the public," Palmer said when questioned by plaintiff attorney Cecillia Wang.

Judge Murray Snow has ordered that Arpaio appear before the court along with Chief Deputy Gerald Sheridan, retired Executive Chief Brian Sands, Deputy Chief John MacIntyre, and Lieutenant Joseph Sousa.

The five men face a range of sanctions from judge Murray Snow, including fines, restitution for individuals harmed and increased agency oversight.

Arpaio has previously admitted that he did not follow the judge's orders and offered to personally pay $100,000 to a civil rights group.

At issue is a preliminary injunction in that case by Snow mandating that individuals could not be solely detained on the suspicion they were in the country illegally.

The crackdown on immigration overseen by Arpaio, however, continued for another 18 months.

The hearings also focus on the sheriff's office failure to turn over audio and video recording evidence to plaintiffs' lawyers.

In a sweeping ruling in 2013, Snow found that Arpaio and his deputies racially profiled Latino drivers during traffic stops and unreasonably detained them, violating their constitutional rights.

Snow installed a court monitor to oversee the operations of Arpaio's office and ordered changes to prevent a repeat of the offenses.

Arpaio has denied that his office was guilty of racial profiling.

The contempt hearings are scheduled to run through Friday, with four more days of testimony expected in June.

Tags
Arizona, Immigration, Racial Profiling
Join the Discussion
More News
A South Korean man was arrested within two minutes of

Man Attempted to Rob a Bank With Dinosaur Water Gun. He's Arrested Within Two Minutes

Pregnant teen Kaylie Corona died in a Riverside, California hit-and-run,

Man Fatally Stuck Pregnant Teenager After Being Confronted About His Sexual Relationship With Victim's Underage Sister: Police

Arizona Man Handed Life Sentence After Murdering Woman While They

Arizona Man Handed Life Sentence After Murdering Woman While on Their Way to Take a Paternity Test

UK Student Jailed in Saudi Arabia for Her Tweets Released

UK Student Jailed in Saudi Arabia for Tweets Supporting Women's Rights Released After Decades-Long Sentence Drastically Reduced

Real Time Analytics