Presidential Pardons: What’s the Deal with Joe Arpaio?
Note: this reading group was written by an anonymous champion of the law.
Last week, President Trump pardoned former Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who was convicted of criminal contempt for defying a court order. The subsequent public uproar brought new life to the impeachment movement, with some claiming that this was Trump’s most impeachable offense yet. So, this week, we’ll take a look at the basics of presidential pardons, the story of Joe Arpaio, and discuss where we think Trump stands in a long history of pardon-related controversies.
All Readings
(1) Explainer on presidential pardon power.
(2) Arpaio’s unauthorized immigration practices.
A couple of infamous past pardons:
(4) President Ford’s Nixon pardon (and what Trump could learn from it).
(5) President Clinton’s Marc Rich pardon for financial crimes.
