PHOENIX (AP) — Even though a federal investigation into alleged abuse of power by Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio (ahr-PEYE'-oh) has ended without criminal charges, his legal troubles are far from over.
There's still no verdict from a federal judge in Arizona on a civil case brought by a small group of Latinos who accuse Arpaio's office of systematic racial profiling.
And the Justice Department has sued the sheriff for alleged constitutional violations -- including racial profiling, retaliating against critics, punishing Latino jail inmates for speaking Spanish, and failing to adequately investigate a large number of sex-crimes cases. No trial date has been set.
Yesterday, the Justice Department announced that it will not pursue criminal charges against the sheriff or his office, or against a former top prosecutor and an aide, for alleged abuse of power.
The prosecutor -- a long-time Arpaio ally -- and the aide were disbarred earlier this year by the state Supreme Court. An ethics panel found they had brought criminal charges against two county officials and a judge with the purpose of embarrassing them.
