Posted on 08/25/2017 8:09:52 PM PDT by hapnHal
WASHINGTON ― President Donald Trump on Friday pardoned a notorious former Arizona sheriff who willfully violated a federal judge’s order by unlawfully detaining individuals his officers claimed might be in the country illegally.
Former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who had previously proclaimed himself “America’s toughest sheriff,” was convicted of criminal contempt last month for violating a 2011 order that barred Arpaio and his office from detaining individuals solely based on suspicions about their legal status. Arpaio, 85, was scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 5.
“Throughout his time as Sheriff, Arpaio continued his life’s work of protecting the public from the scourges of crime and illegal immigration,” the White House said in a statement late Friday. “Sheriff Joe Arpaio is now eighty-five years old, and after more than fifty years of admirable service to our Nation, he is a worthy candidate for a Presidential pardon.”
Trump’s pardon of Arpaio, the first of his presidency, amounts to a tacit endorsement of Arpaio’s discriminatory tactics and reads as a favor to a political ally. The media-savvy former sheriff, known for parading inmates around in pink underwear, supported the former reality TV star’s presidential campaign and spoke at the Republican National Convention last summer. Both men were prominent promoters of the racist conspiracy theory that former President Barack Obama wasn’t born in the United States.
Arpaio, who served as sheriff from 1993 through 2016, had long been accused of discriminatory practices against Latinos. A 2011 report by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division concluded there was reasonable cause to believe that Arpaio and his office engaged in a pattern or practice of unlawful policing and racial profiling. Arpaio’s officers called Latinos “wetbacks,” “Mexican bitches,” “fucking Mexicans” and “stupid Mexicans,” the Justice Department found, and Latino drivers were four to nine times as likely to be stopped by his officers as non-Latino drivers were. A lawsuit filed by the Justice Department was settled in 2015.
“With his pardon of Arpaio, Trump has chosen lawlessness over justice, division over unity, hurt over healing,” Cecillia Wang, deputy legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union, said in a statement Friday. “Once again, the president has acted in support of illegal, failed immigration enforcement practices that target people of color and have been struck down by the courts. His pardon of Arpaio is a presidential endorsement of racism.”
At a Tuesday evening rally in Phoenix, Trump had signaled that the pardon was coming. The president claimed Arpaio had been “convicted for doing his job.” But Trump said, “I’ll make a prediction: I think he’s going to be just fine, OK?
Or it might just be coincidence, because stories said that pardon paperwork was all ready to go a couple of days ago.
It may simply have been time to get it out there.
Maybe Sheriff Arpaio's conviction wasn't anything significant to you that deserved an immediate pardon, but it was significant to Arpaio and his family. This 85 year old man faithfully served his office of County Sheriff for over 24 years. He was harassed by Obama's DOJ thugs for years, and dragged through the mud, simply for doing his job. Why shouldn't he have been pardoned now? Why should he have to wait? At 85...would you want to wait if you were in his shoes?
According to federal law, a defendant charged with a crime carrying such a penalty is NOT eligible for a jury trial. That’s why Arpaio wasn’t charged with anything more serious. They didn’t want a jury (which Joe asked for) to decide the case. They wanted a liberal judge to decide the case.
The whole thing stinks.
...
I remember Trump saying at the rally that Joe deserved a jury trial. I’d say that’s the major reason he got the pardon.
One day at a time...patience.
“It may simply have been time to get it out there.”
I think you are underestimating Trump’s sense of good timing, for a variety of reasons: it’s the Friday dump; Gorka quit; Hurricane Harvey in process. Again, Trump ain’t no dummy.
Of course the major reason is that Sheriff Joe is guiltless, and was following the law unlike the witch hunt judge that was trying to shaft him; Arpaio is 85 years old and he and his wife deserved no period of uncertainty before his being pardoned; Trump really likes Joe and has a basic innate sense of fairness and decency towards those being shafted; and last but not least, Trump loves to watch liberal heads explode too, lol.
So was Hillary Clinton.
Where did you come up with that?
Afghanistan is the gateway to Pakistan, which has nukes. Do you want those Muslim savages getting their hands on those nukes?
Starting w/Dinesh D’Souza.
What does the Huffpuff think about Marc Rich’s pardon by Slick Willy Clinton?
“I think he’s trying to mitigate damage done with his Afghanistan policy”
In which very few people were even talking about 24 hours ago?
Don't be a concern troll - even the "little things" matter, and pardoning Joe for the crime of being railroaded by those who don't thing immigration laws should be enforced is no "little thing" - it's a clear message that Trump has the backs of those who would defend our borders from illegal invaders.
HuffyPoo can go suck eggs.
They weren’t p!ssed about Obama letting the treasonous Brad Manning off. Deserter/enemy agent Bo Bergdahl neither.
I'm not certain that just walking away from Afghanistan right now, given the circumstances, is the best route either... I would have preferred that whole situation was approached differently years ago... but given today's reality, I think Trump can't pull an Obama and just bail on it.
I think Trump had chosen too many people who were too head strong, and not able to take orders (from him). They all seem to simply quit if he asserts his will in policy decisions. Advisors should advise, and aren't guaranteed to get their way every time.
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