Civil lawsuits against self-proclaimed “toughest sheriff”, Joe Arpaio, have been dismissed by a U.S. District Court, though plaintiffs have been given the opportunity to rewrite their complaints.

All but one lawsuit filed against Sheriff Arpaio and former County Attorney Andrew Thomas, by three retired judges and other county officials, have been dismissed due to what was described as Judge Neil Wake’s intolerance of melodrama and imprecise accusations.

Wake said the lawsuits contained “irrelevant” and “inflammatory” language.

The lawsuits makes claims that Arpaio and Thomas abused their power, and that Arpaio refused to abide “by any rule of law that is not his own, or is not declared as his own in a press appearance.”

Two of the judges who filed claims against them said they were named in a “baseless” civil racketeering lawsuit. Though that lawsuit was later dropped, the judges claim it was only filed to “intimidate, harass, discredit and humiliate” them.

Though Judge Wake is allowing the plaintiffs to rewrite their complaints, he noted that Thomas may be immune from litigation over criminal charges he filed while working as a prosecutor against a number of the plaintiffs.

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