After years of enduring politically targeted oversight and millions of taxpayer dollars going to the monitor leading the oversight, Robert Warshaw, the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors has finally taken a step to end federal oversight of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO).
Outside counsel for the Board filed a “Rule 60” motion which asks a federal court for relief from the injunctions in the Arpaio v. Melendres lawsuit. The motion argues:
The motion argues that because continued federal oversight is no longer equitable, justified, or tailored to any ongoing violation, the County is entitled to relief from the hundreds of prescriptive court orders tied to the Melendres case, many of which are unrelated to the original lawsuit. Maricopa County has spent more than $300 million to comply with four different Melendres court orders, with more than $30 million in fees spent on a court-appointed monitor alone.
Maricopa County argues that continued federal oversight “upsets the democratic process and America’s federalist structure by making local officials accountable to a federal court—based on the conduct of a former Sheriff who has been out of office for fourteen years.”
Rule 60(b)(5) permits a party to obtain relief from a judgment or order if it “has been satisfied, released, or discharged; it is based on an earlier judgment that has been reversed or vacated; or applying it prospectively is no longer equitable.”