"America's toughest sheriff" loses lawsuit against media
Phoenix — A federal judge has dismissed a $300 million defamation lawsuit filed by the self-proclaimed "America's toughest sheriff."
U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth said in his opinion on Thursday that Joe Arpaio's lawuit against three national media outlets failed to prove malice.
The suit claimed that CNN, the Huffington Post and Rolling Stone published inaccurate references to Arpaio's criminal case, in turn hurting his chances at possibly running for the U.S. Senate seat formerly held by the late John McCain.
The former Maricopa County sheriff is best known for his tough-on-immigration policies and for being pardoned by President Trump. He was convicted of contempt of court in 2017 after ignoring orders to stop traffic patrols targeting immigrants because they amounted to racial profiling. After losing reelection in 2016, Arpaio is running to reclaim his role as sheriff.
Arpaio's lawyer, Larry Klayman, told The Arizona Republic he's certain Lamberth will allow the complaint to be amended so the case can move forward to discovery and a jury trial.
Arpaio filed a similar lawsuit against the New York Times, which has also been dismissed.
