Friday, March 29, 2024

Latinos Detained Unlawfully by Ex-Sheriff Joe Arpaio Can Now Seek Compensation

In 2011, U.S. District Judge Murray Snow found that Arizona Sheriff Joseph Arpaio’s traffic patrols unjustly targeted Latinos, and consequently ordered Sheriff Arpaio to stop his profiling. The patrols continued and so did the profiling of Latinos, however, until late May 2013. Arpaio was convicted of criminal contempt of court for continuing the patrols.

The People who were illegally detained over more than a two-year period by Joe Arpaio may now seek compensation. 

Officials in Maricopa County have about $1 million prepared to help cover the compensation costs, and in August of 2016, Judge Snow ordered the creation of a taxpayer-funded system to compensate those illegally detained. Under the system, an individual would receive $500 for the first hour they were illegally detained and then $35 for each additional 20-minute increment they were held, according to the report. The application period for seeking compensation will last a year and began Friday, December 8th

President Trump pardoned the former sheriff who did not win his most recent reelection last year, saving him from a possible jail sentence. 

In September 2016, Maricopa County agreed to pay $4.5 million in legal fees to the plaintiffs in a case, which dated back to 2007. That payment was added to an existing some of $10.4 million that had already been paid for Arpaio’s unlawful actions during his time as Sheriff.

 

The Hill

NPR News