A federal judge has rejected Maricopa County's request to end court oversight of the sheriff's office in the Melendres civil rights case.
In a 72-page written decision Thursday, Judge G. Murray Snow explained that MCSO has not done enough to guarantee racial profiling won't reoccur during traffic stops.
Since 2013, the sheriff's office has operated under federal court orders from the Melendres case.
The case, first filed in 2007, made claims of unconstitutional policing of Hispanic drivers against then-Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
In recent years, some county leaders argued the court-ordered monitoring was too costly and unnecessary.
Judge Snow listened to arguments from both sides in June.
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In his order denying MCSO's request for relief, Judge Snow pointed to ongoing, unexplained racial disparities in how deputies handled traffic stops.
"After years of being on notice of problems, MCSO should stop looking for ways to get out of this case prematurely and instead should fully commit to finally resolving the issues that have allowed problems to persist," said Jenn Rolnick Borchetta, deputy director of the ACLU’s Criminal Law Reform Project.
Judge Snow did encourage the ACLU and other lawyers for the Melendres plaintiffs to discuss possible modifications with Maricopa County, so there is a possibility to reduce the scope of federal court monitoring based on areas of sustained compliance.
MCSO issued the following statement in response to the judge’s decision:
The Rule 60(b) motion was originally filed by Maricopa County, not MCSO, although MCSO later joined the motion. We are disappointed by the Court’s decision because we believe MCSO has implemented durable remedies for violations that occurred 19 years and three administrations ago.
At the same time, we are encouraged that the Court has provided a framework on eliminating portions of the Order that are no longer necessary and focusing compliance efforts on the remaining issues to be addressed. This will allow MCSO to focus its resources on achieving full and effective compliance with the remaining requirements. MCSO looks forward to working with the Parties on this process.
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