Roberts: Joe Arpaio can be cleared or pardoned, but not both

Joe Arpaio’s on a roll.

He got a presidential pardon, he’s back in the headlines and he's once again on the speaker’s circuit.

Now, he’s pushing his luck and asking a federal judge to wipe clean his criminal record for ignoring another federal judge's order for a year and a half.

The thinking seems to be this:

It’s only fair to wipe out Arpaio’s misdemeanor conviction for criminal contempt of court because he can’t appeal.

He can’t appeal because he never was sentenced and thus no final judgment was entered.

He never was sentenced because he got a pardon from President Donald Trump.

But that gift straight from the Oval Office, is apparently not enough to satisfy the ex-sheriff. Now he wants the misdemeanor off his record.

Arpaio's legal team says it's only fair to throw out the conviction because he can't pursue an appeal. The Department of Justice agrees.

“A pardon issued before entry of final judgment moots a criminal case because the defendant will face no consequences that result from the guilty verdict," prosecutors wrote.

Their joint headlong rush to clear Arpaio has been slowed by an army of private attorneys who this week filed motions opposing a dismissal. Given DOJ's capitulation, they want Judge Susan Bolton to appoint a special prosecutor and hold a hearing on whether the case should be dismissed.

Seems to me there’s an easy resolution here.

If Arpaio truly believes that he is innocent -- if he believes he was denied justice because he didn't get a jury trial -- then he has the absolute right , as does every American, to go to court to try to clear his name. 

All he has to do is send back the pardon and file an appeal.