Sheriffs…above the law?

 

I Am The Law

I’ve written recently about ex-Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who used his post to act a bit like a tyrant and, ultimately, to cost his county millions. But it turns out the man is not unique. Indeed, there is a fascinating article over on the Washington Post’s website which suggests he may be (shudder) the coming thing. In “Boosted by the pandemic, ‘constitutional sheriffs’ are a political force,” Kimberly Kindy looks at how some sheriffs are beginning to argue that they are legally supreme in their own districts, beyond the control of even the President of the United States.

It sounds bizarre and it is bizarre, but it makes a weird kind of sense. The office of sheriff is unusual in the USA. Unlike a police chief, a sheriff is elected. That means he or she can’t be fired. And some sheriffs have held office for decades at a time. They also tend to be popular figures, at least with certain members of the electorate. Arpaio was the darling of the reactionary set, even while everyone else in Arizona has serious misgivings about him.

This has combined with the current Trumpian rebellion against central authority of any sort. The result has been a new kind of sheriff, one who is seen…and who may see him/herself…as a bulwark of “real” Americans (i.e., white rural or suburban Americans) against liberals, Hippies, minorities, cities, snowflakes, educated people, and sheeple who get vaccinated.

And, that sort of sheriff is becoming the center of new political movement, the “Constitutional Sheriff” movement. And, not surprisingly, such people literally believe that they are not to questioned by anyone in Washington. They are, like Judge Dredd, “The Law.”

On one level, of course, this is just one more moment of Trumpian nonsense in our sad current age, which is all too crowded with nonsense. Yet, it is also genuinely disturbing. For the reality is that a “constitutional sheriff,” supreme in his/her jurisdiction, is a serious step to some sort of neo-feudalism. 

Or to put it another way, let us all hope the Constitutional Sheriff movement dwindles away to nothing…

Or else we may all face an endless succession of very bad Days At Black Rock.

~mjt

Source: “Boosted by the pandemic, ‘constitutional sheriffs’ are a political force,” Kimberly Kindy, Washington Post, November 2, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/constitutional-sheriffs-elections-trump-pandemic/2021/11/01/4c14c764-368b-11ec-91dc-551d44733e2d_story.html

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