Taxpayers in metro Phoenix still footing the bill for Joe Arpaio's immigration crackdowns

[Mosby]

Twenty years ago, when Arizona became frustrated with its porous border with Mexico, the state passed a series of immigration laws as proponents regularly griped about how local taxpayers get stuck paying the education, health care and other costs for people in the U.S. illegally.

Then-Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio gladly took up the cause, launching 20 large-scale traffic patrols targeting immigrants from January 2008 through October 2011. That led to a 2013 racial profiling verdict and expensive court-ordered overhauls of the agency’s traffic patrol operations and, later, its internal affairs unit.

Eight years after Arpaio was voted out, taxpayers in Maricopa County are still paying legal and compliance bills from the crackdowns. The tab is expected to reach $352 million by midsummer 2026, including $34 million approved Monday by the county’s governing board.

https://apnews.com/article/arizona-racial-profiling-arpaio-costs-immigrants-341cf667f2b795c816fb6838ac8c3f3d

Frankly this is utter bullshit, taxpayers shouldn't be responsible for government failures and lawyers fees.

[jls4561]

1. Taxpayers just paid $5million to the family of a woman who died for lies.

[LauraInLA]

2. But the taxpayers always pay for the actions of government, right? Los Angeles County is paying four billion dollars

for abuse claims (and legal fees) dating back to the 1950s. Ultimately, the buck stops with us, doesn’t it?

[Mosby]

3. True, but it's an abuse of punative damages imo

Punitive damages are a punishment to the company, and used as a mechanism to change behavior and discourage other companies from doing the same thing. Punitive damages leveled at government entities are just cash jackpots for the lawyers, in this case Arpaio is gone, the administrations he worked under are gone, so this is just a huge cash transfer to the lawyers, paid by me and you.

The abuse cases in CA have actual victims, though the 7000 claims add up to a nice payday for the law firms involved.