PHOENIX (AP) — The sheriff of metro Phoenix will not contest a claim that he is in civil contempt of court in the same racial profiling case in which his
Paul Penzone in 2017.
A judge is scheduled to hear arguments Thursday over whether the sheriff of Maricopa County, like his predecessor Joe Arpaio, should face a contempt of court hearing in a longstanding racial profiling case against the sheriff’s office.
The lawyers who won the racial profiling case eight years ago are now arguing Sheriff Paul Penzone should face a civil contempt hearing for not complying with a court-ordered overhaul of his agency’s much-criticized internal affairs operation, which has a backlog of 1,800 cases, each taking an average of 500 days to complete.
They say Penzone is out of compliance with a requirement that internal investigations be completed within 60 or 85 days, depending upon which operation within the agency handles the cases.
(CN) A 2007 lawsuit over racial profiling continues to cause problems for the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, with a federal judge signaling Thursday he will find Sheriff Paul Penzone in contempt for taking too long to investigate charges of misconduct among officers.
In a pointed rebuke after the U.S. Department of Justice asked U.S. District Judge G. Murray Snow in March to order a contempt hearing, Snow said Penzone’s department is “clearly” out of compliance with his 2016 court order to overhaul the investigation process.
“Even if I believe everything in the brief is true, which I don’t, I would still find the sheriff in contempt,” Snow told the attorneys early in the hearing, referring to Penzone’s response to the Justice Department’s request for an order to show cause.