Arpaio and Thomas RICO Lawsuits Dismissed

Things have been rapidly going south for Sheriff Joe and his waterboy, County Attorney Andrew Thomas (pic) as I predicted, here on Bad Lawyer several times since I began to following the stories out of Maricopa County.  Here's the current story at AZCentral.com.

Remember this is the sheriff who called his memoir (the one he didn't write and later admitted, he didn't read) America's Toughest Sheriff; and his prosecutor-on-call, Andrew Thomas.  Essentially the tale of woe is about tax-funded abuse of political and prosecutorial power by Arpaio and Thomas as they indict and sue multiple Maricopa County elected officials for racketeering including indicting Judges who stand up to them and who have the umbrage to throw their frivolous indictments and lawsuits out of court. 

As I suggested sanity was going to creep in the moment Arizona's Supreme Court stepped in and named a special master, former Chief Justice Ruth McGregor to oversee all the Arpaio/Thomas litigation.  Secondly the federal RICO (racketeer influenced corrupt organization) lawsuits filed by Thomas were a step way over the line.  By invoking the federal court jurisdiction, Arpaio and Thomas exposed themselves to pretty heavy sanctions which are already hitting them in a separate civil rights action over the destruction of emails they were ordered to preserve and turn over. 

Likewise state courts have repeatedly tossed the state court indictments including re-indictments dismissed by a visiting judge who called Thomas' actions purely political.

These clowns, Arpaio and Thomas have actively undermined the respect the public once had for their sheriff and prosecutor.  It's truly amazing, the fear this clown had struck with his terrorist tactics in dealing with public officials.  It's coming to an end, I predict at the end of the day, Andrew Thomas will lose his law license.  A lawyer who is a public official cannot seek indictments and file civil lawsuits that are solely intended to punish political opponents without paying an ethical price.  Thomas went way over the line, the disciplinary proceedings have been initiated and they will grind away over the next couple of years, the only thing Thomas has going for his at this point is that the conduct is so complex and byzantine that it make take a long, long time to whack him, but in my opinion he has forced the hand of disciplinary authorities by his hubris.