Lawsuit against Sheriff Arpaio scheduled for July

As previously reported by this blog, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio was charged with discounting the constitutional rights of Latino prisoners and using racial profiling to send plaintiffs to jail for unsupported reasons. Phoenix law offices will not take part in the outcome of the racial profiling lawsuit as the county has hired out-of-state legal help. Nonetheless, the ruling will begin in a federal courthouse this July.

According to The Republic, Arpaio has taken a strong stance in enforcing immigration laws, but plaintiffs allege that he took part in institutional discrimination. In fact, his mission has been met with accusations from activists, citizens and the U.S. Justice Department, claiming that his organization took part in discriminatory practices.

"The problem is, there is no way to see illegal status," David Harris, a University of Pittsburgh law professor who focuses on police behavior and racial profiling, told the news source. "Unless you're standing in the desert where the line is, you don't know that somebody is crossing or has crossed. You can't, by simply looking at them or listening to them talk, tell whether they're illegal or not. They [deputies] are using Latino appearance as a proxy for illegal status, and in so doing they're sweeping in and showing themselves willing to target lots and lots of people that aren't illegal at all, who are U.S. citizens."

The class-action lawsuit includes a number of plaintiffs compromising of two hispanic siblings from Chicago visiting the area and an assistant to former Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon who claimed that her Latino husband was unlawfully detained.

Any businesses that have been accused of disregarding the constitutional rights of clients or customers much like Arpaio may need to speak to a Phoenix business law attorney.

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