Where is the justice for Arpaio's victims?
By Marcela García AUGUST 26, 2017
When President Trump pardoned former Maricopa County sheriff Joe Arpaio Friday night, it was an endorsement of one of the nation’s most blatant racists, a man who has displayed boundless and illegal animosity toward immigrants. One clear byproduct: It sends a haunting message to immigrants and signals a green light for law enforcement to violate civil rights.
Thousands of people were terrorized during Arpaio’s two decades in office in Maricopa County, Arizona’s most populous county, covering more than 9,000 miles and the city of Phoenix. For years, the self-proclaimed “toughest sheriff in America” got away with being a racist while wearing a badge.
This wasn’t a merciful pardon issued to a remorseful convicted criminal. Last month, the 85-year-old former sheriff was found guilty of criminal contempt for violating a 2011 federal judge’s order to stop racially profiling Latinos. He always maintained he didn’t do anything wrong.
His victims in that case, a long-running civil rights lawsuit, included US citizens whom Arpaio’s deputies illegally stopped or harassed just because they looked Hispanic and, therefore, “illegal.” It was a blatant violation of their constitutional rights.
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