Federal judge in racial profiling case scolds Sheriff Arpaio's deputy over 'double dealing'
Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Christopher Halloran / Shutterstock.com
The federal judge who found that Maricopa County, Ariz., Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s department was illegally profiling Latinos and ordered remedial measures, with court oversight, hauled Arpaio and Chief Deputy Jerry Sheridan into court in Phoenix to tell him he’s unhappy with their apparent attempts to skirt the requirements, the Associated Press reports.
U.S. District Judge Murray Snow was incensed at a training video from last October showing Sheridan working with rank-and-file deputies. The judge said Sheridan, in explaining to the deputies the court’s requirements, suggested that their obligations under the court’s order were not strict. And Arpaio, on the video, backed Sheridan in the training session, saying that “What the chief deputy said is what I’ve been saying.”
Today Judge Snow accused the two of “double-dealing.”
From now on, lawyers on both sides of the issue will summarize Judge Snow’s rulings and put them in a letter to be signed by Arpaio and Sheridan and handed out to Arpaio’s employees.
Sheridan’s statements at the October training session came just days after Judge Snow ruled that the sheriff’s office would have to work closely with a court-appointed monitor in the matter, USA Today reported at the time.
