… is detailed in a New Times story by Sarah Fenske. The angle is a single case Thomas has been appealing,andrew_thomas one of the many quixotic legal attacks the Dimmer Twins, he and Joe Arpaio, are pursuing at any given time.

This one is about Spanish language legal service, specifically the probation phase of DUI offenses. According to Fenske, Thomas characterizes it as “discrimination,” apparently against English speakers:

In press releases and op-ed columns, Thomas claimed that the issue was about a separate court for Spanish speakers. He’s tried to make it sound as though Latinos who get charged with DUI get an easier time of it than us poor whiteys.

She says its a useful program that, after the drunk driver has been convicted and served his or her time, does a better job of keeping the offenders out of the system again.

The main point of the piece, though, is the cool and fruitless half-million dollars Thomas has spent on outside counsel alone on unrequited appeals for a case that was laughed out of court from the first. He’s been hacking at it in district court and on the ninth circuit, and lost every time.

She says Thomas is hooked on outside legal fees:

In 2007 and 2008, Thomas managed to spend $16 million and $13 million on outside counsel, according to county records. That’s a 124 percent increase over what Rick Romley spent on outside lawyers during his final two years in office.