Sheriff Joe at it again (Phoenix, Maricopa: costs, vacation, retire)

[Captain Bill]

Originally Posted by PeteVC

...There's well over $30,000,000 in judgements! He must run for office again to try to prevent the audit his successor must perform.

A judgment is entered by the judge after a person is sued and the judge orders money paid to the plaintiff.

To my knowledge there has not been any suit against Joe that has been won, and awarded judgments. If you've seen judgment awards, please point me to the court case.

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by Captain Bill

A judgment is entered by the judge after a person is sued and the judge orders money paid to the plaintiff.

To my knowledge there has not been any suit against Joe that has been won, and awarded judgments. If you've seen judgment awards, please point me to the court case.

Hard to tell if you are being naive or splitting hairs here. Over 2000 lawsuits have been filed against MCSO resulting in millions of dollars out of taxpayer pockets. Most were likely frivolous and quickly dismissed. As is the case in most civil matters, others ended in "settlements" and not "judgments". Scott Norberg alone was over $8 million. Let's not forget the settlements with the supervisors and employees that ran into several million.

[Steve Pickering]

You didn't answer the question. What lawsuit has Joe lost?


Let's put the blame on the activist bringing the suits for the cost to the taxpayers, because I don't recall any that Joe has lost either.

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by Steve Pickering

You didn't answer the question. What lawsuit has Joe lost?


Let's put the blame on the activist bringing the suits for the cost to the taxpayers, because I don't recall any that Joe has lost either.

Get real! When you pay 8 million dollars to settle a claim against you, you lost. In fact, that it did not even go to a jury shows his attorneys were fairly certain the plaintiff would prevail.

And you want to blame the parents of the kids his men killed, or the supervisors whose reputations he destroyed? Simply amazing. I wonder what would happen to Joe if it weren't for the immigration crap he pulls or the birther nonsense. One thing sure; he knows his constituency.

[Steve Pickering]

I am real. And I know Joe and the facts. Give us somthing besides numbers you guess at. What law suit has Joe lost?

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by Steve Pickering

I am real. And I know Joe and the facts. Give us somthing besides numbers you guess at. What law suit has Joe lost?

Norberg. 8 million of my dollars - not sure if you live here or would just like to. Quit trying to use semantics and legal hair splitting. End of discussion.

[Steve Pickering]

You pay $8,000,000 in taxes? Not semantics, just looking for facts which are not exaggerated by you.

The actual suit was settled for 8.2 mil which was about $.15 to $.25 cents of your taxes. Joe Arpio was not a part of this suit at anytime. Scott Norberg was a consistent combative individual who had assaulted several officers. County insurance paid this settlement as far as I know. If you know that not to be true, present the facts. The decision to settle had nothing to do with winning or losing a law suit.

I am still waiting for something to back up you statements.

[jimj]

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

Get real! When you pay 8 million dollars to settle a claim against you, you lost. In fact, that it did not even go to a jury shows his attorneys were fairly certain the plaintiff would prevail.

And you want to blame the parents of the kids his men killed, or the supervisors whose reputations he destroyed? Simply amazing. I wonder what would happen to Joe if it weren't for the immigration crap he pulls or the birther nonsense. One thing sure; he knows his constituency.

Not necessarily, lawsuits are settled all the time not because they're going to lose at trial but because it's deemed by the powers that be it's cheaper to settle than to pay the costs to fight it both legal and political.
Cities settle claims constantly that they shouldn't just do some reading.

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by jimj

Not necessarily, lawsuits are settled all the time not because they're going to lose at trial but because it's deemed by the powers that be it's cheaper to settle than to pay the costs to fight it both legal and political.
Cities settle claims constantly that they shouldn't just do some reading.

It is obvious that there is going to be no convincing you Arpaio supporters. I just wonder why you are opposed to replacing him with a sheriff who goes about enforcing the law and carrying out his other duties professionally without making a laughing stock of the state of Arizona. Well, no, I don't really wonder. I am pretty sure I know why. I keep telling my kids to get out of Arizona as soon as they can. If Arpaio is re-elected after all the things he has done, then I am going to have to consider leaving more seriously as well. This state is going in the wrong direction to have any kind of future worth having.

[mdm1]

Originally Posted by Steve Pickering

You pay $8,000,000 in taxes? Not semantics, just looking for facts which are not exaggerated by you.

The actual suit was settled for 8.2 mil which was about $.15 to $.25 cents of your taxes. Joe Arpio was not a part of this suit at anytime. Scott Norberg was a consistent combative individual who had assaulted several officers. County insurance paid this settlement as far as I know. If you know that not to be true, present the facts. The decision to settle had nothing to do with winning or losing a law suit.

I am still waiting for something to back up you statements.

First of all, the calculation of how much it costs an individual doesn't make wasting 8.2 million dollars any better.

And now some facts:

According to a defense lawyer in the Norberg lawsuit, Joe Arpaio was a party to the lawsuit.

The county was still on the line for 1 million dollars of the judgment. Source

Of course settling the lawsuit has to do with winning or losing a lawsuit. The insurance company is only going to settle for such a huge amount if they think that the legal costs + size of judgement multiplied by the probability of losing is greater than 8.2 million. If they settled for something like $25k, then it would be reasonable to assert that they are just trying to save money on the legal costs, but at $8.2 million it's very clear that the insurer thinks there is a strong chance of losing and that in the event of a loss, that the judgment will be very large.

And as for other lawsuits, I'm not sure if you are being picky about the lawsuit being against him personally vs. his subordinates, but here's an article that outlines the huge costs, the sheer volume of lawsuits relative to a similarly sized metro area and provides evidence of losing judgments as opposed to settling. It also notes that the county insurance deductible has risen from 1mil to 5mil.

Here are two different lawsuits that appear to name Arpaio, that have been settled/lost for substantial sums.