Possible Pardon of Arpaio

[struggle4progress]

By Tessa Stuart
3 hours ago

... In July, the former sheriff was convicted of criminal contempt of court. Arpaio's conviction was the culmination of of a decade-long legal saga over Arpaio's directive instructing officers to detain individuals .. even if those people had not committed a crime ...

If the president does in fact pardon Arpaio – and all usual caveats about the president's unpredictability, propensity for lying and poor track record delivering on promises apply – it would be unusual. The usual process, conducted through the Justice Department's Office of the Pardon Attorney, requires that several thresholds be met: All "other forms of judicial or administrative relief" must have been exhausted, petitioners are supposed to wait at least five years after conviction or release before applying, they have to accept responsibility for their actions, and, usually, the FBI has to review the case too.

Trump appears poised to throw all precedent and procedure out the window. The White House has reportedly prepared paperwork and talking points in the case he does officially pardon him ...

The ACLU .. has said an Arpaio pardon would amount to an "official presidential endorsement of racism" ... Human Rights Watch also is discouraging a pardon ... "If President Trump uses his power to pardon a discredited law enforcement official who persistently engaged in illegal racial profiling of the Latino community, it will not be a dog whistle to the so-called 'alt right' and white supremacists, but a bull horn."

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/features/trumps-possible-pardon-of-joe-arpaio-what-you-need-to-know-w499178

[leftofcool]

1. Oh the irony coming from the ACLU

Is this the same ACLU that sued so the Nazis could march in Charlottesville with their guns and bats and shit? Why yes I believe it is the same group.

[OriginalGeek]

5. People have the civil liberty to be assholes

we all have freedom of speech. It's not the ACLU's fault that some of them get violent. The ACLU did not sue for the nazi's right to be violent. They sued for the right to speak. Anything other than that is on the nazis.

The ACLU would sue for your right to speak too if you were being denied it.

[phylny]

8. Perfectly stated. n/t

[NastyRiffraff]

2. "Possible?"

He in effect promised it to the crowd of mouth-breathers in Phoenix last night. Unless of course he lied. Oh wait...

[lunatica]

3. His promises mean nothing

It's like saying he'll do or say something in a "couple of weeks". It never happens.

[gratuitous]

4. "The usual process"

That's the loophole through which the Trump administration has driven a convoy of semi truck trailers. The usual process is for presidential candidates to disclose their tax returns. But there's no requirement for it, so Trump didn't. The usual process is to allow cameras in the daily White House press briefings. But when the assembled media didn't complain or refuse to participate when the White House banned cameras, the cameras were gone until it pleased Trump to let them back in.

The usual process for a presidential pardon is to go through the Department of Justice, but there's no requirement for Trump to do so, so if he doesn't want to, he won't. His claque of barking seals will clap enthusiastically and bark "Suck it, libtards." And nobody will do anything, Arpaio will skate, and Trump will crow again about how invincible he is.

The majorities in Congress could stop this tomorrow if they wanted to, and that's been the case for more than seven months now.

[unblock]

6. once upon a time, "the usual process" included largely denying media coverage to the lunatic fringe.

[spanone]

7. K&R...