Trump’s First Pardon
Is Controversial
By Vamsi Ratnakaram
Historically, presidents have used their constitutional right of pardons as a way of propelling the country past heated issues. Former President Ford famously pardoned his predecessor President Nixon, as a way of moving the country forward, leaving the messy Watergate Scandal in the past. President Trump, however, has seemed to move in the opposite direction, igniting controversy with his pardon of Joe Arpaio.
Joe Arpaio, also known as “Sheriff Joe” in his home state of Arizona, is an immigration hardliner and was a vocal supporter of Trump during his 2016 presidential campaign. When he was sheriff of Maricopa County, he controversially held inmates in his notorious “Tent City Jail” where he would force prisoners to sleep outside in the brutal Arizona heat and wear striped jumpsuits and pink underwear.
Last year, after the Justice Department conducted an investigation into Arpaio, it found that he and his staff had discriminated against Latinos, causing it 9 times more likely for them to be questioned and held. Over a period of 18 months, Arpaio detained 171 people without basis.
After a court ordered Arpaio to stop detaining people without basis, he went on to deliberately defy the orders. U.S. District Judge Susan R. Bolton found Arpaio guilty of contempt of court in July of this year, and he was set to be sentenced in October.
However, Trump pardoned him in August, saying, “Throughout his time as Sheriff, Arpaio continued his life’s work of protecting the public from the scourges of crime and illegal immigration. Sheriff Joe Arpaio is now eighty-five years old, and after more than fifty years of admirable service to our Nation, he is worthy candidate for a Presidential pardon.”
Critics of the pardon note that Trump didn’t mention Arpaio’s crimes and instead focused on his long service.
