http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/18/us/sheriff-joe-arpaio-arizona.html 2016-10-17 22:40:27 Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Accused of Targeting Latinos, Is Charged With Contempt Prosecutors said Sheriff Arpaio, of Maricopa County, Ariz., had willfully defied a judge’s orders to stop discriminatory policing. === PHOENIX — Federal prosecutors on Monday charged Sheriff If convicted, Sheriff Arpaio, 84, who has made a name for himself as an unapologetic pursuer of illegal immigrants, could face up to six months in jail. The authorities were still weighing a charge of obstruction of justice, which could carry more severe punishment. Sheriff Arpaio is seeking re-election in November to his seventh term. The Sheriff Arpaio Sheriff Arpaio’s lawyer, Mel McDonald, said that the sheriff would plead not guilty by a court filing and that he hoped to prevail before a jury. The court set a Here are milestones in the long-running case. December 2007 Judge G. Murray Snow of United States District Court in Phoenix eventually gave the lawsuit class-action status, allowing any Latino stopped by Sheriff Arpaio’s deputies since Jan. 1, 2007, to be represented in the case. December 2011 June 2012 July 2012 November 2012 Judge Snow issued another corrective order, telling the sheriff to implement sweeping changes at his office to prevent discriminatory policing. Among the changes were cameras to record traffic stops, updated training to explicitly define the limits of deputies’ authority and an independent monitor to oversee compliance. May 2016 In a 162-page decision, Judge Snow wrote that for 17 months, Sheriff Arpaio and three of his top deputies purposely ignored his orders, in part because he wanted to maintain his hard-line stance against illegal immigration to score votes among his base of staunch conservative supporters. The sheriff’s office wrongfully detained and turned over for deportation August October 2016 Sheriff Arpaio issued a defiant response. He said the announcement, coming a day before early voting was to start in Arizona, was “no coincidence” and blamed “the corrupt Obama Justice Department” for trying to influence the election. Meanwhile, a new group called Bazta Arpaio has vowed to mobilize tens of thousands of voters against Arpaio on Election Day.