Joe Arpaio didn’t deserve a pardon

Ex-Maricopa County sheriff abused Latinos, and hundreds of crimes were unresolved: Our view.

Fresh from pouring gasoline on the fires of intolerance in Charlottesville, Va., President Trump on Friday pardoned a man who systematically persecuted people of color.

Invoking the presidential pardon power for this man — former Maricopa County (Ariz.) sheriff Joe Arpaio — further shreds whatever semblance of moral authority the president retains, not to mention Republican hopes of making inroads among Hispanic voters.

The pardon, announced Friday evening as a major hurricane bore down on the Texas coast, also has a potentially chilling effect on special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation by signaling targets of that inquiry that the president might let them off the hook, even if they refuse to cooperate.

The pardon, which bypassed the normal process for executive clemency, wasn’t unexpected. Trump told Fox News this month that Arpaio was “a great American patriot.” He praised Arpaio’s self-styled toughness on illegal immigration and said a pardon was under serious consideration. And the president hinted at the action at Tuesday night’s rally in Phoenix.

Arpaio, 85, faced up to six months in jail for willfully violating a federal court order while sheriff by allowing racial-profiling roundups of suspected undocumented immigrants. Sentencing was set for Oct. 5.

The sentencing judge could have considered Arpaio’s age and other factors. Given the history of “Sheriff Joe,” presidential interference in the judicial system was premature and unwarranted.

As documented by federal investigators, Latinos living in Maricopa County during Arpaio’s reign as sheriff from 1993 to 2016 suffered abuse and discrimination. They were four- to nine-times more likely to be pulled over in traffic stops, often for no good reason. One legal U.S. resident stopped in 2008 for not using his turn signal was jailed for 13 days before the case was dismissed.

The sheriff, who was finally voted out of office last year, was famous for housing inmates in a sweltering tent city. Spanish-speaking inmates picked up on immigration sweeps served harsh time in Arpaio’s jails. Detention officers cursed at them in Spanish.

The federal investigators found that a “wall of distrust” between a harassed Latino community and the sheriff’s department hampered police investigations. Hundreds of sexual assault and child molestation cases went unsolved where many of the victims appeared to be Latino.

Despite all this, Trump said of Arpaio: “He has protected people from crimes and saved lives. He doesn’t deserve to be treated this way.”

In fact, just the opposite is true. Latinos taken into custody were abused, and hundreds of crimes, many against children, were unsolved. This is the kind of person worthy of a pardon?

Arpaio’s sentencing for contempt of court should have been allowed to go forward.

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