( CNN ) -- Arizona lawman Joe Arpaio has required prison inmates to wear pink underwear and saved taxpayers money by removing salt and pepper from prisons . He has , at times , forbidden convicted murderer Jodi Arias from speaking to the press . The stern Maricopa County Sheriff has said the federal government will not stop him from running his office as he sees fit . But on Friday it did . A judge ruled Friday that Arpaio 's routine handling of people of Latino descent is not tough enforcement of immigration laws but instead amounts to racial and ethnic profiling . Some of those profiled sued Arpaio , and Judge Murray Snow found their complaints to be legitimate . The federal court in Phoenix ordered `` America 's Toughest Sheriff '' -- a moniker Arpaio sports on his website -- to stop it immediately and has banned some of his operating procedures . The sheriff 's office has a history of targeting vehicles with occupants with darker skin or Latin heritage , scrutinizing them more strictly and detaining them more often , Snow ruled . The sheriff 's lawyers dispute the judge 's conclusion . Defense attorney Tim Casey said he 's `` very disappointed by the outcome of the decision . The MCSO and the sheriff have never used race and will never use race in their decisions . '' The sheriff 's office in Maricopa County , where Phoenix is located , is planning to appeal the ruling . `` This is vindication , '' said immigration rights activist Lydia Guzman , happy about the verdict . `` They 've been stopping people based on the color of our skin , just because someone suspected we might not be authorized to be in this country . '' Package addressed to sheriff could have caused 'major explosion ' Being profiled . Plaintiffs in the civil trial gave accounts alleging discriminatory treatment . Officers stopped Manuel Nieto and Velia Meraz after they witnessed Maricopa County Sheriff 's Office deputies detaining two Latino men . A deputy then ordered them to leave , but they were pulled over again in front of their family business , according to the ACLU , which represented plaintiffs . Read the ruling . The second stop was at gunpoint , they said . Nieto dialed 911 , but deputies grabbed him and threw him against his car , according to the suit . Once they saw that Nieto and Meraz were U.S. citizens , they let them go -- without an apology . Plaintiff Manuel Ortega Melendres was vising Arizona on a valid visa . He does not speak English . In September 2007 , he was arrested after the car he was riding in was pulled over by deputies . Melendres said he showed the officers his identification but was nonetheless treated roughly and arrested . He sat in a cell for hours before a federal immigration agent confirmed that his documents were in order . A professor of criminal justice presented a statistical analysis he said corroborated that profiling in the county was systematic . Ralph Taylor of Temple University testified that Hispanics are more likely to be checked for immigration status during saturation patrols than non-Hispanics are . Casey blamed the incidences on bad training by U.S. Immigration and Customs agents . The court 's ruling will prevent local law enforcement from playing a potential role in immigration enforcement , he said . No longer allowed . The court 's ruling prevents the sheriff 's office from carrying out some of Arpaio 's policies that it said amounted to a violation of the Fourth Amendment , which protects against unreasonable search and seizure , and the Fourteenth , which guarantees equal protection under the law . The MCSO will no longer be allowed to use race or Latino heritage to make any law enforcement decisions , including stopping vehicles , making detentions or holding suspects longer than necessary to resolve specific allegations . The ruling is another slap from the federal justice system against Arizona 's immigration policies . The U.S. Supreme court in June 2012 struck down parts of the state 's controversial immigration law , including provisions for law enforcement that were similar to those practiced by Arpaio , and which the court deemed unconstitutional . Law enforcement veteran . Arpaio 's office claims to be the third largest sheriff 's office in the United States and boasts more than 3,400 employees . Before becoming sheriff , Arpaio was a federal narcotics agent , who eventually headed the Arizona office of the Drug Enforcement Agency , according to his biography on the MCSO website . In April , a postal inspector intercepted an explosive package addressed to him . It was mailed a day after the department received a death threat from a major drug cartel . In a CNN interview before his trial began , Arpaio said his department would continue to pursue illegal immigrants . `` I know I 'm doing the right thing . I 'm not going to surrender by those little small groups , people that do n't like what I 'm doing . You think I 'm going to surrender ? It 'll never happen , '' the sheriff said at the time . But on Friday attorney Casey said `` America 's Toughest Sheriff '' will comply with the court 's ruling -- for now .
NEW : `` This is vindication for the people of New York and a great day for our country.'' Judge : `` America 's Toughest Sheriff '' may not allow race or heritage to influence decisions . Sheriff Joe Arpaio 's lawyer says his client did not racially profile . The sheriff 's office plans to appeal the ruling .