PHOENIX (AP) — A federal judge is scheduled to hear arguments Thursday over whether the sheriff of metro Phoenix, like his predecessor Joe Arpaio, should face a contempt of court of hearing in a longstanding racial profiling case.
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.
The agency has a backlog of 1,800 internal affairs cases, each taking an average of 500 days to complete. Penzone is seeking changes that he contends would reduce the backlog by about 40%.
