Anyone who'd been paying attention already knew that, but now it's official:
Former Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio found guilty of contempt
US District Court Judge Susan Bolton handed down her ruling in court papers signed on Monday.
Bolton wrote that Arpaio knew of the court order and what it meant for his department's policy of detaining immigrants without state charges to turn them over to federal authorities for civil immigration violations. But the evidence showed "a flagrant disregard" for the order, Bolton wrote.
I'm really surprised that this took so long. Leaving aside for the moment whether or not Arpaio's policies were proper, once a court told him to knock it off, he should have stopped. He'd been in law enforcement long enough to know that you cannot get away with ignoring a court order.
image: Wikimedia Creative Commons