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 U.S. District Court Judge Murray Snow rejected a motion made by
Arpaio's lawyers that the judge recuse himself because his decisions
in the high-profile case could be seen as biased.
In a 40-page written ruling, Snow said the basis for the claims made
in May by the Maricopa County sheriff and his chief deputy Gerard
Sheridan were “legally insufficient and untimely” and that the case
should proceed, including civil contempt hearings.
Snow, who has repeatedly expressed his frustration over his court
orders being violated, also said that Arpaio and Sheridan have
“improperly attempted to invoke the recusal provisions for strategic
purposes.”
Lawyers for Arpaio and Sheridan could not immediately be reached for
comment.
The attempt to remove Snow brought the long-running profiling case
to an abrupt halt, coming a few weeks before a second round of
contempt hearings were scheduled to be held against Arpaio and four
others.
 The judge already ruled in 2013 that Arpaio, who bills himself as
"America's toughest sheriff," and his deputies were guilty of acting
unconstitutionally by racially profiling Latino drivers during
traffic stops, and said the individuals were wrongfully detained.
Arpaio has denied the findings.
Snow also installed a court monitor to oversee the operations of
Arpaio's office and ordered changes to prevent a repeat of the
offenses.
In February, he ordered civil contempt proceedings be initiated
against Arpaio and other past and current top officials for
disobeying judicial orders arising out of a 2007 profiling case
ordering a stop to immigration enforcement operations.
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They face possible punishments of fines, restitution and increased
oversight of the sheriff's office.
Snow also has mentioned possible criminal contempt proceedings.
During civil contempt hearings in April, Snow directly questioned
Arpaio about investigations that involved the judge’s wife and
another probe pertaining to the use of a confidential informant.
Arpaio admitted that a private investigator was hired to check out a
tip that Snow's wife was overheard saying in a restaurant that the
judge wanted the lawman out of office.
Lawyers for Arpaio charged that the questioning was outside the
bounds of the issues that were the subject of the contempt
proceedings and questioned other decisions made by the judge.
Snow has scheduled a status conference in the case for July 20.
(Editing by Victoria Cavaliere)
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