Arpaio - arguing he isn’t guilty

Posted on: October 4, 2017 at 09:11:32 CT

Arpaio is back. Today, a federal judge will hear arguments in the continuing case of United States v. Joseph M. Arpaio—the case in which President Donald Trump issued his first presidential pardon. To many people, it might be strange to realize the case is continuing at all. Normally, a pardon is the end of a criminal case, or an epilogue. But the controversial sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona—convicted of criminal contempt of court—has decided to try to clear his name, asking a court to vacate his original conviction entirely. (Normally, a pardon protects the pardoned person from punishment, but leaves the fact of the conviction on the books.)

Arpaio might indeed get his record wiped clean. But in asking a court to vacate his conviction, Arpaio is inviting another possibility as well: that the court will decide his pardon was not valid in the first place. If that happens, the Arpaio pardon would mark a new development in the law: judicial willingness to limit the presidential pardon power itself.