Arpaio’s contempt could mean payout for profiled victims

*Things clear and unclear: there is videotaped evidence, corroborated by interviews, that Arpaio’s deputies continued to profile for undocumented immigrants after a federal judge ruled that the practice must stop. What’s unclear is how many immigrants were profiled and detained, and how those immigrants are to be identified and found if a class action suit establishes a compensation find. VL

By Megan Cassidy, Arizona Republic

A federal lawsuit that has already cost Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office millions in a court-imposed policy overhaul may soon lead to payouts for victims of racially motivated policing.

In the nearly two years since a federal judge found that Maricopa County Sheriff’s deputies routinely discriminated against Latinos during immigration-enforcement efforts, the agency has been forced to spend $30 million in an attempt to end the unconstitutional practices.

The ruling by U.S. District Court Judge G. Murray Snow was the result of a successful class-action lawsuit leveled against Sheriff Joe Arpaio. The plaintiffs did not ask for monetary damages, but called for big-ticket remedies, including a court-appointed monitor and recording devices for deputies.

During a hearing last week, Snow and attorneys discussed the possibility of establishing a compensation fund for people who were unlawfully detained by deputies after the judge explicitly barred them from doing so in an earlier 2011 ruling.

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