Constitutional Crisis Averted?

Thus ends what might have been a veeeerrrrry interesting constitutional debate over the limits of presidential pardons. Despite calls from members of Congress to continue pressing a contempt charge against former Maricopa County sheriff Joe Arpaio, the federal judge dismissed it with prejudice.

However, the case may not be fully over:

Acceding to a controversial pardon from President Donald Trump, a federal judge has dismissed the criminal contempt of court case against former Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio for defying a court order to stop profiling Latinos, multiple local news reports said.

U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton tossed out the case against the 85-year-old ex-lawman with prejudice, meaning it cannot be reinstituted. Bolton ruled that the pardon is “valid” in applying to the contempt charge, a decision that disappointed a coalition of House Democrats and liberal groups that had petitioned the court to ignore it. They argued that a presidential pardon infringed on the separate and equal power of the judiciary, an “intentional usurpation of the Court’s authority by the President.” Upholding the pardon would create an impermissible power for the executive branch to rob the judiciary of the authority to enforce its orders, they argued.

Read more at Hot Air