Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is supposed to face a second round of contempt of court hearings on Sept. 22 for violating a judge’s orders in a racial profiling case. But lawyers for the sheriff and the county are asking an appeals court to put the case on hold, which could alter the timeline.
U.S. District Court Judge Murray Snow ordered the contempt hearings when it came out the sheriff and some of his staff violated Snow's orders in a racial profiling case. The hearings began in April and are scheduled to resume for two weeks in late September.
In May, the sheriff accused Snow of bias and asked him to recuse himself from the case, but Snow refused.
Now Arpaio’s lawyers are asking the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to force U.S. District Court Judge Murray Snow off the case. The sheriff’s lawyers are also asking the 9th Circuit to make Snow freeze all proceedings until the appeals court rules on Snow.
“Because Petitioners need the opportunity to see an appellate ruling on the issue of recusal of Judge Snow before the contempt proceedings resume, Petitioners respectfully request a stay of all trial court proceedings,” the lawyers wrote in their motion filed last week.
Meanwhile, Maricopa County owes plaintiffs attorneys’ fees after the sheriff lost most of an earlier appeal. But on Monday, lawyers for the sheriff and the county filed an objection to the plaintiffs’ request for $546,108.84.