Joe Arpaio, the outspoken Arizona sheriff who often touted his get-tough approach to combating illegally immigration, admitted he violated a federal judge's orders to stop detaining people simply because of a suspicion they may be in the country illegally, reports the Los Angeles Times. The admission, one month before he lawman was scheduled to appear in court, appears to be an attempt to avoid an evidentiary hearing in which Arpaio and other officers could be called to testify.
Attorneys for Arpaio and Chief Deputy Jerry Sheridan said such a hearing would be unnecessary, in addition to costing “county taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars.” U.S. District Judge Murray Snow’s ruled in 2013 that Arpaio's practices relied heavily on ethnicity, violating the Constitution’s 4th and 14th Amendments. The 4th Amendment guards against unreasonable search and seizure; the 14th Amendment guarantees equal protection under the law. Arpaio and Sheridan are willing to personally pay for the violation. The pair offered to pay $100,000 to a Latino civil rights organization approved by the court and they will request $350,000 from Maricopa County to compensate victims.