Willa Frej reports for HuffPost:
“A judge rebuffed former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s request to expunge his criminal conviction for unlawfully detaining individuals based on suspicions of their legal status after President Donald Trump pardoned him in August.
U.S. District Court Judge Susan Bolton ruled Thursday that the pardon wasn’t a reason to erase Arpaio’s guilty verdict.
“The power to pardon is an executive prerogative of mercy, not of judicial record-keeping,” she wrote. “The Court found Defendant guilty of criminal contempt. The President issued the pardon. Defendant accepted. The pardon undoubtedly spared defendant from any punishment that might otherwise have been imposed. It did not, however, revise the historical facts of this case.”
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Read the rest of the story at the above link.
You can lie to your heart’s content, but you can’t rewrite history, as Joe and the rest of his racist/White Nationalist cronies in the Trump Administration are finding out.
PWS
10-20-17
Thanks for posting, Paul. Judge Bolton’s decision underscores what’s wrong with this scenario. Under the Constitution’s scheme of checks and balances, the legislative branch determines what actions constitute crimes, and the judicial branch determines guilt or innocence. In stating that Arpaio was “just doing his job,” Trump essentially declared that he (and not Congress) will decide what action constitutes a crime, and further intended to usurp the judicial branch’s power to determine guilt and innocence. And by his refusal to consult with the Justice Dept., Trump made clear that he not only doesn’t know what the Constitution says, but that he doesn’t care. Citizens of all parties and political viewpoints should be outraged by such blatant disregard for the cornerstone of our democracy.
Great comment, Jeffrey! Thanks!
I happened to attend a reception tonight and was chatting with an Anglo business lawyer whose wife was from Arizona. Interestingly, his take on the pardon as eroding our Constitutional system of checks and balances was much like yours. I get tired of folks falsely claiming that Trump and Sessions just want to enforce the immigration laws as written. Trump has done more to destroy the rule of law in nine months than any other President that I am aware of. He has contempt for American Democracy. Not surprising as he was elected by a minority of voters including a so-called base that shares his contempt for decency, values, and the common good (the “I don’t care if he murdered someone in Times Square in broad daylight I’d still vote for him” crowd).
Best,
P