A federal judge has found Maricopa County Sheriff Paul Penzone to be in civil contempt of court in the same racial profiling case in which his predecessor, Joe Arpaio, was found to be in contempt.
A federal judge on Wednesday found the sheriff of metro Phoenix to be in civil contempt of court in the same racial profiling case in which his predecessor, Joe Arpaio, was found to be in contempt six years earlier.
The judge wrote that Penzone "does not demonstrate that he has taken all reasonable steps to comply with the order, especially as the backlog has increased. The backlog, despite Sheriff Penzone's knowledge of it, only gets worse." Arpaio was found in both civil and criminal for disobeying a 2011 order to stop his traffic patrols that targeted immigrants. He was spared a possible jail sentence when his misdemeanor conviction was pardoned by then-President Donald Trump in 2017. His defiance in the profile case contributed significantly to his defeat after 24 years in office.
The attorneys who have pressed the profiling case against the sheriff's office had requested contempt proceedings against Penzone, saying the length of the internal investigations has resulted in lost evidence that makes it more likely that officer misconduct won't be confronted. In the past, Penzone has said his office made warnings for several years ago about the growing caseload, but its suggestions for confronting the problem were rejected by court officials and opposing lawyers.
Even though Arpaio's immigration patrols ended nine years ago - and the brash lawman was voted out of office nearly six years ago -- taxpayers in metro Phoenix have paid eight-figure bills every year since 2015 in the case that challenged his crackdowns.
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