Joe Arpaio, Arizona Sheriff, To Pay $200,000 In Racial Profiling Case: The office of an Arizona sheriff known for his efforts against undocumented immigrants has settled a claim with two men and will pay $200,000 in a racial profiling case.
The claim arose from one of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's (ar-PY'-oh) worksite enforcement raids.
Deputies raided a landscaping company in search of identity-theft and fraud suspects Feb. 11, 2009. They stopped Julian and Julio Mora's pickup truck outside the business.
A federal judge later determined the deputies had no reason to stop the men or detain them for nearly three hours.
Attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona tell The Arizona Republic the settlement should send a message to police agencies that engage in discriminatory practices.
Sheriff's office attorney Tim Casey says officials couldn't identify the deputies who made the stop, which made it impossible to defend the merits of the stop.
