Pardon Could Spark A Constitutional Crisis
Andy J. Semotiuk
President Trump's Friday pardon of Joe Arpaio, who was Sheriff in Maricopa County, Arizona, and who was found guilty of criminal contempt last month for disregarding a court order in a racial profiling case, is a dangerous step in the direction of a constitutional crisis ... Trump's pardon is not only a political act, but also a challenge to the legal system ...
This decision .. undermines the predictability of the legal system. The predictability of how the law will be applied is a hallmark of a free society ... In the end, there is only one choice, the rule of law or rule by law. Rule of law means that all of us are equally treated by the law. The essence of the rule of law is that an individual can predict in advance with reasonable certainty how he or she will be treated by the American legal system for a transgression of its rules. Rule by law means that instead of the courts, an individual in power can decide who should and who should not be punished ... In short, the decision in circumstances like this one, is whether a court judge or the President should make the decision. This case sets the dangerous precedent that the President will be the arbiter of what is right and what is wrong in America. Legally .. this is not what the constitution intended ...
... It is not the proper role of the President to exempt individuals from the rulings of the legal system whenever he likes. For America to work as a country it is necessary for the President to respect and abide by the rulings of the judicial system. In the days ahead we can expect a great deal of debate on this theme. A power struggle between the executive and judicial arms of the U.S. government is a crisis American society cannot afford. While it is a tradition that at the end of a President's term the President can pardon certain individuals whose cases are brought to the President for consideration through a vetting process, that is not what happened here. What if President Trump does not like how other individuals who seek to implement his programs are treated by the courts? Will he use his pardon power to protect them? Will only those who are beholden to him be safe from prosecution? Will it matter what the courts decide? ...
... It signals .. that those who take improper measures to remove immigrants .. will be immune ...
https://www.forbes.com/sites/andyjsemotiuk/2017/08/25/trumps-pardon-of-sheriff-arpaio-could-spark-a-constitutional-crisis/#4e73fede351e
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He threw out the rule of law today and basically said that it's open season for law enforcement to do whatever they want and there's no consequences. 
