Trump Pardons Arpaio Less Than a Month After His Conviction

Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Photo: Christopher Halloran / Shutterstock.com

On Friday, August 25, in the midst of the media’s almost exclusive focus on Hurricane Harvey, President Trump issued a pardon of controversial Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

In a two-paragraph statement, the White House said that Arpaio gave “years of admirable service to our nation” and referred to him as a “worthy candidate for a presidential pardon.”

Arpaio served for 24 years as sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona—a district that includes Phoenix. Just a month ago, he was convicted of criminal contempt of court related to court order that was handed down in 2011, in which he was directed to stop detaining people based solely on suspicion of their immigrant status, when there was no evidence that a state law had been broken.

The American Bar Association is disappointed that Arpaio was pardoned.

ABA President Hilarie Bass said in a statement, “The crime that Arpaio was convicted of committing—criminal contempt of court for ignoring a judge’s order—showed blatant disregard for the authority of the judiciary. As a law enforcement officer who took an oath to uphold the law and respect the courts, he instead chose to substitute his own interpretation of justice.”

“Granting Arpaio an expedited pardon sends the wrong message to the public,” Bass’s statement continued. “The authority of the courts must be respected if our system is to work. Individual interpretations cannot be swapped for the rule of law. Pardoning a law enforcement officer who has disobeyed the courts and violated the rights of people he has sworn to protect undercuts judicial authority and the public’s faith in our legal system.”

After Trump tweeted the news about his pardon, Sheriff Joe Arpaio tweeted, “Thank you @realdonaldtrump for seeing my conviction for what it is: a political which hunt by holdovers in the Obama justice department!” Arpaio also took to Twitter to solicit donations to his legal fund.

Arizona Republican Senator John McCain denounced the pardon. “No one is above the law, and the individuals entrusted with the privilege of being sworn law officers should always seek to be beyond reproach in their commitment to fairly enforcing the laws they swore to uphold,” McCain said.

What do you think of Trump’s pardon of Sheriff Joe Arpaio? Please sound off in the comments.