U.S. court upholds racial profiling injunction on Arizona lawman

By David Schwartz PHOENIX (Reuters) - A federal court on Wednesday largely upheld an injunction blocking Arizona lawman Joe Arpaio and his Maricopa County Sheriff's Office from the unconstitutional practice of stopping and detaining anyone solely on suspicion of being an undocumented immigrant. Arpaio, 82, who bills himself as "America's Toughest Sheriff," has been found by a federal judge in Phoenix to have racially profiled Latino drivers following a class action lawsuit. The complaint, filed on behalf of the plaintiffs by the American Civil Liberties Union, alleged Arpaio's department conducted racially discriminatory traffic stops while also launching "crime suppression sweeps," known as "saturation patrols," targeting Hispanics. In Wednesday's order, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said a ruling by U.S. District Judge Murray Snow preventing traffic stops to verify drivers' immigration status was not over-broad and was aimed at remedying specific constitutional violations. The appeals court affirmed such additional remedies as appointing a court monitor to oversee operations, requiring additional training and supervision, increased data collection, and the recording of traffic stops. The panel did throw out certain provisions of the lower court's ruling concerning the monitor's power to oversee unrelated internal investigations and officer misconduct. It ordered Snow to rewrite those requirements. Cecillia Wang, a plaintiff attorney and director of the ACLU's Immigrants' Rights Project, said the appeals ruling has again held Arpaio responsible for his unlawful actions. "It's time for Sheriff Arpaio and the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office to face the facts and accept responsibility for violating the Constitution and the public trust," Wang said. "They should focus now on fixing the serious problems that fostered this illegal and discriminatory conduct." Tom Liddy, a sheriff's office attorney, said his client is moving ahead with its efforts to satisfy the judge's mandates. "He's directed all of his personnel to fully cooperate with the monitor to ensure that MCSO operations are in full compliance with the court's orders," Liddy said. Snow ruled in 2013 that the sheriff's office systematically singled out Latinos in regular traffic and special immigration patrols. That was when Arpaio and his deputies were permanently enjoined for the first time from "detaining, holding or arresting Latino occupants of vehicles in Maricopa County based on a reasonable belief, without more, that such persons are in the country without authorization." A hearing is scheduled to begin on Tuesday in Phoenix over allegations Arpaio and his top aides acted in contempt during the case. (Reporting by David Schwartz and Tom Brown; Editing by Andre Grenon and Eric Walsh)