Daily Archives: September 12, 2017

“Arpaio’s jails weren’t just tough and humiliating, they were sometimes deadly.”

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO): Joe Arpaio:. “Donald Trump issued his first presidential pardon to the last person who should get one. John Oliver discusses the troubling record of former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio.”

“Here’s the thing there: He was absolutely not just doing his job. He was also doing something illegal. […] And yet I do not doubt that Trump thinks that everything Joe Arpaio did was or should be part of a law enforcement officer’s job. And that is the real problem here. That is why this pardon is a slap in the face to Latinos that Arpaio and his department unconstitutionally targeted, and that is why it’s a slap in the face to the very rule of law itself, because Arpaio broke the rules he was sworn to uphold, rules that are put in place to protect citizens from a government going out of control. And Trump giving him a pass after everything that you have seen tonight and saying he was just doing his job is a loud confirmation that, at least as far as this White House is concerned, for the next few years law enforcement won’t necessarily be expected to do their jobs the way the constitution or the courts say they should. Instead, like Sherriff Joe Arpaio , they should absolutely feel free to do their job [however they like].”