Tag: pardon

Arpaio pardon could encourage more civil rights violations

The following article by Steven Mulroy was posted on the Conversation website August 23, 2017:

Then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is joined by Joe Arpaio at a campaign event. AP Photo/Mary Altaffer

President Donald Trump pardoned Joe Arpaio, the former Arizona sheriff who illegally used racial profiling to enforce immigration laws, on Aug. 25.

It’s true, Trump has the legal power to pardon pretty much anyone. But pardoning Arpaio may send the message that state and local officials can aggressively enforce federal immigration law, even if it risks racial profiling and violating the due process rights of citizens and noncitizens.

Legal limits on immigration enforcement

Arpaio has long been known for his harsh practices like requiring inmates to work on chain gangs and live in outdoor tent cities in the scorching Arizona heat. He prioritized immigration enforcement at the expense of crimes like sexual assault. Continue reading “Arpaio pardon could encourage more civil rights violations”

Trump asked Sessions about closing case against Arpaio, an ally since ‘birtherism’

The following article by Philip Rucker and Ellen Nakashima was posted on the Washington Post website August 26, 2017:

Maricopa County Sheriff Joseph Arpaio gestures to the crowd while delivering a speech at the Republican National Convention on July 21, 2016, in Cleveland. (John Moore)

As Joseph Arpaio’s federal case headed toward trial this past spring, President Trump wanted to act to help the former Arizona county sheriff who had become a campaign-trail companion and a partner in their crusade against illegal immigration.

The president asked Attorney General Jeff Sessions whether it would be possible for the government to drop the criminal case against Arpaio, but was advised that would be inappropriate, according to three people with knowledge of the conversation.

After talking with Sessions, Trump decided to let the case go to trial, and if Arpaio was convicted, he could grant clemency. Continue reading “Trump asked Sessions about closing case against Arpaio, an ally since ‘birtherism’”

Trump’s pardon of Arpaio fits a pattern: A divider, not a uniter

The following article by Dan Balz was posted on the Washington Post website August 26, 2017:

President Trump pardoned former Maricopa County, Ariz., sheriff Joe Arpaio Aug. 25. Here’s what you need to know. (Patrick Martin/The Washington Post)

President Trump has set his presidency on an unambiguous course for which there could be no reversal. He has chosen to be a divider, not a uniter, no matter how many words to the contrary he reads off a teleprompter or from a prepared script. That’s one obvious message from Friday’s decision to issue a pardon for controversial former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio. Continue reading “Trump’s pardon of Arpaio fits a pattern: A divider, not a uniter”

If he’ll pardon Arpaio, why wouldn’t Trump pardon those who ignore Robert Mueller?

The following article by Philip Bump was posted on the Washington Post website August 25, 2017:

President Trump pardoned former Maricopa County, Ariz., sheriff Joe Arpaio Aug. 25. Here’s what you need to know. (Patrick Martin/The Washington Post)

That President Trump pardoned former Maricopa County sheriff Joe Arpaio surprised no one who had been paying attention. On Tuesday, he had all but said that he was going to do so, soaking up the applause from a friendly audience at a rally in Phoenix when he broached the subject. Continue reading “If he’ll pardon Arpaio, why wouldn’t Trump pardon those who ignore Robert Mueller?”

The Joe Arpaio I Knew

The following article by Ryan Gabrielson was posted on the ProPublica website August 15, 2017:

The former Maricopa County sheriff made his name in part by targeting immigrants — even after a judge ordered him to stop. As President Trump considers a pardon, it’s worth remembering precisely what Arpaio did in his decades in law enforcement.

Joe Arpaio, then sheriff of Maricopa County, spoke at the Republican National Convention in July, 2016. Credit: John Moore, Getty Images.

For most of Joe Arpaio’s two-plus decades as Maricopa County sheriff, he directed operations from the top floor of a downtown Phoenix tower, worlds away from the jails overseen by rank and-file deputies. The executive offices wrapped around an expansive conference room, where I spent weeks in early 2008 with banker boxes full of arrest records, and hanging out with Arpaio himself, a politician who built his career on bashing immigrants long before the rise of Donald Trump.

Back then, I was working for the East Valley Tribune, then a daily newspaper in the Phoenix area. I had filed a public records request for all documents from deputies’ immigration operations. Teamed with Paul Giblin, a fellow Tribune reporter, we were trying to figure out how the sheriff was enforcing immigration laws, and what effect their monomaniacal focus was having on regular police work — like solving crimes. Arpaio had long before achieved national notoriety for making prisoners wear pink underwear and housing them in an outdoor tent city so hot that the inmates’ shoes melted. Continue reading “The Joe Arpaio I Knew”