Trump’s disdain for the courts

Re “Pardon sends a border policy signal,” Aug. 27

I read with dismay, but not surprise, that President Trump had pardoned Joe Arpaio, the former sheriff of Maricopa County, Ariz.

Not only does the pardon send the wrong message about immigration enforcement, but it is yet another slap in the face to the federal judiciary by this president. Recall Arpaio’s history of blatantly discriminatory arrest and detention practices, culminating in his being ordered by a federal judge to cease and desist such conduct. His conviction was for disregarding and routinely violating the order.

Trump’s pardon says Arpaio was “continuing his life’s work of protecting the public from the scourges of crime and illegal immigration” — work that the federal judge found unlawfully discriminatory.

By pardoning the former sheriff, Trump is saying there is no need to obey a federal judge’s orders if this president disagrees with them. This is a serious erosion of the authority of the federal judiciary and a dangerous precedent. Jim Stiven

Cardiff, Calif. The writer is a retired federal magistrate judge for the Southern District of California.

Arpaio was not convicted for “doing his job” in the conventional sense of that term. He was convicted for refusing to obey a court order to discontinue his patently racist and unconstitutional practice of racial profiling and illegal arrests.

Arpaio abused and humiliated prisoners in what he himself described as a “concentration camp.” For Trump, that illegal behavior was Arpaio’s job.

Trump’s contempt for

the law must be checked by his immediate removal from office. But the Republicans, who control the White House and both houses of Congress, refuse to end this shredding of our Constitution and the expanding hate and violence this unleashes to preserve their longed-for legislative agenda.

Since Republicans have so far refused to act in the national interest to remove Trump, we must use nonviolent means to convince them to do so.