Judge Orders Contempt Hearing in Ariz. Traffic Stop Class Action

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In an ongoing Arizona traffic stops class action lawsuit, which alleges members of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) implemented illegal traffic stops to verify drivers’ immigration status, the presiding Arizona federal judge has ordered Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his staff to demonstrate why they should not be held in contempt of court for allegedly violating terms of a previous court approved injunction.

On Feb. 12, U.S. District Judge G. Murray Snow submitted an order to show cause against MCSO, stating that the group of Latino plaintiffs in the traffic stop class action lawsuit had submitted sufficient evidence to the court that Sheriff Arpaio, the MCSO, and other affiliated individuals had “engaged in a custom, policy, and practice of racially profiling Latinos, and a policy of unconstitutionally stopping persons without reasonable suspicion that criminal activity was afoot,” in direct violation of the court ordered injunction.

As a result of the plaintiffs’ evidence, Judge Snow has ordered Sheriff Arpaio, chief deputy Gerald Sheridan,  deputy chief John MacIntyre, retired executive chief Brian Sands, and lieutenant Joseph Sousa to show cause and argue why contempt sanctions should not be held against them and the MCSO as a whole.

Back in 2007, a group of Latino motorists filed an Arizona traffic stops class action lawsuit, claiming that Sheriff Arpaio and members of the MCSO unlawfully stopped vehicles driving in Maricopa County whose passengers seemed to be Latino. The traffic stop class action lawsuit alleges that MCSO members and Arpaio did this with the intent of questioning individual’s about their immigration status.

During course of the traffic stops litigation, the plaintiffs were able to secure a permanent injunction in 2013, since Judge Snow ruled that the MCSO did not possess the power to stop individuals in traffic based only on reasonable suspicion. During this 2013 ruling, the judge also found that the sheriff’s office violated the plaintiffs’ Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights.

At the beginning of this year, the plaintiffs filed a subsequent brief alleging that they had evidence demonstrating that Arpaio and MCSO were in contempt of the 2013 injunction. Additionally, the plaintiffs allege the sheriff and MCSO members neglected to implement steps to keep with the court’s injunction, as well as side stepped a court order mandating the MCSO consult a monitor in order to discover how to properly collect deputy records of various traffic stop videos.

According to Judge Snow’s order, the injunction granted from the Arizona traffic stops class action lawsuit states that the MCSO does not have the authority to enforce federal immigration law and additionally cannot stop and detain people that are not under suspicion of state and criminal law violations just because there is reasonable suspicion that they are illegal immigrants.

“It is the Court’s expectation that these contempt proceedings will allow for the development of an evidentiary record sufficient for the Court to evaluate whether it can fashion an appropriate judicial response that vindicates the rights of the Plaintiff class, and whether other remedies may be appropriate,” Judge Snow wrote. “The viability of crafting suitable civil relief for each of the grounds on which contempt is charged will be of chief interest to the Court if Defendants, or their subordinates, are ultimately adjudged to be in contempt of court.”

Finally, Judge Snow has granted plaintiffs’ request for expedited discovery of deposition and documents that support their allegations that the sheriff and MCSO members violated the preliminary injunction.

The plaintiffs are represented by Cecillia D. Wang and Andre I. Segura of the ACLU Foundation Immigrants’ Rights Project; Daniel Pochoda of the ACLU Foundation of Arizona; Anne Lai, Stanley Young, Tammy Albarran, Hyun S. Byun and Priscilla G. Dodson ofCovington & Burling LLP; and Jorge M. Castillo of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

The Arizona Traffic Stops Class Action Lawsuit is Melendres, et al. v. Arpaio, et al., Case No. 2:07-cv-02513, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona.