Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Maricopa County Hires Outside Counsel To Fight U.S. Racial Profiling Suit; Counsel Contributed To County Attorney Montgomery Campaign

From the Arizona Republic, the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors narrowly approved hiring local counsel Richard Walker and national firm Winston & Strawn to represent the county in the United States' racial profiling suit against Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and the county.  County Attorney Bill Montgomery recommended the attorneys; Walker contributed to Montgomery's campaign.

The campaign contribution two weeks before the election was only $250.00.  Mr. Walker does not appear to be a frequent contributor to political campaigns; quick searches of state and national databases turned up no other contributions.

This is not to imply in any way that Walker is not qualified or was only recommended by Montgomery because of the contribution;  Walker is without a doubt an excellent attorney and will represent the county well, and many good attorneys contributed to Montgomery's campaign.

We do not yet know who will represent Arpaio and/or the MCSO in the suit, although occasional MCSO outside counsel William Jones from Jones, Skelton Hochuli was copied by the U.S. in a recent filing.

By the way, that recent filing was the U.S.'s response opposing the intervention of a Gilbert man.  Scott Huminski wanted to join in the case to raise his unrelated allegations against Arpaio.

We welcome your comments about this post. Or, if you have something unrelated on your mind, please e-mail to info-at-arizonaspolitics-dot-com or call 602-799-7025. Thanks.

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