County Sheriff - Federal Puppet or Guardian of Liberty? Find out before you vote!

Let's start with the candidates who wish to be your county sheriff.  The Sheriff is no paper tiger-he has more power than most people (sometimes even the Sheriff himself!) know.  A simple, sample questionnaire for you to ask your local candidates is provided at the end of this post.

Is your County Sheriff a Federal Puppet or a Guardian of Liberty? 

That depends on who you elect and where their loyalties lie. Your county sheriff has an extraordinary amount of power, far and above that of any other local elected official.  The Sheriff is the only elected law enforcement position in America and he is our last line of defense against a federal government that knows no bounds.  

Did you know that your County Sheriff actually has the power to intervene and even deny access to the county by federal agencies? In 1997 The Supreme Court ruled in Printz v USA that Federal commandeering of State government or its agents is a violation of the very spirit of our Constitution.  Justice Scalia, who rendered the majority opinion of the Supreme Court on the Printz case, said "It is incontestable that the Constitution established a system of dual sovereignty" and that the states retained "a residuary and inviolable sovereignty."  Scalia asserted that the very structure of the US Constitution as well as historical precedent makes it clear that the Founders meant to protect the States from Federal bullying. He quotes James Madison (Federalist 39) to further illuminate the Courts opinion;

The local or municipal authorities form distinct and independent  portions of the supremacy, no more subject, within their respective spheres, to the general authority [federal government] than the general authority is subject to them, within its own sphere.          Neither the state, nor the states’ officers can be compelled to do the bidding of the federal government. 

Read more about Printz v. U.S.;

http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/95-1478.ZO.html

In 1996 Charles Meeks, executive director of the National Sheriff's Association made the statement that with every additional federal crime designation, "we're getting closer to a federal police state.”

True.  This is why we have to elect a Sheriff with the guts to stand up to the federal government and assert his vested Constitutional authority to reject federal interference in the business of the county.  It is important that we understand (and make sure our Sheriff does too) that the US Constitution charges State government and it’s subdivisions with controlling the federal government’s involvement within their domain.   When we elect our County Sheriff we are honoring him with the Constitutional power of representing each of us.  Thus, it is our duty to see to it that the Sheriff lives up to his end of the bargain by faithfully defending our Natural and Constitutional rights.  Scalia quotes Madison again;

“In the compound republic of America, the power surrendered by the people is first divided between two distinct governments, and then the portion allotted to each subdivided among distinct and separate departments. Hence, a double security arises to the rights of the people. The different governments will control each other; at the same time that each will be controlled by itself." (The Federalist # 51} T

The Ruby Ridge debacle was a great example of federal law enforcement tactics.  They spent 10 million dollars and killed of Vicki and Samuel Weaver to bring Randy Weaver to justice for the crime of sawing-off two shotguns.  How likely is it that our local law enforcement would handle such a situation so disastrously?  

 Same thing with Waco and the Branch Davidians; We need the kind of Sheriff that would have told the Feds to back off and who would have had the common sense to pick David Koresh up when he was out on his daily jog and spare the lives of all of those children that the Feds were in such an all-fired up rush to rescue.Of course, we cannot eliminate the risk of our elected officials having poor judgment.  No human can escape that.  The recent fiasco in Texas with the FLDS roundup of 416 children comes to mind. But the Feds propensity to screw up on a grand scale makes me glad that the at least the mess was contained to the State and therefore rectified in relatively short order.  Imagine if Janet Reno had been in charge of that one!

The point I’m trying to make is that our choice of Sheriff is crucial if we wish to hold the line on federal tyranny.  In the (likely) event that our State government fails to properly guard their domain from Federal meddling, then it is up to the County Sheriff to do so.   The Sheriff is answerable to his constituents and we have to make it our business to elect someone worthy of this responsibility then hold them accountable.  We should question our Sheriff candidates on these matters as if our lives and freedoms depended on it because in our current environment of steadily shrinking freedoms due to ever increasing unconstitutional Federal and Executive powers, they very well may.

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I will post more specific information to further illustrate the amount of power vested in the county sheriff in a future post.   First I want to provide you with a tool to help you find out if a potential Sheriff would use his powers for good or evil.

Disclaimer-I am a concerned citizen, not a lawyer.  My aim is to help others begin a dialog with their elected officials and to have the courage to hold them accountable and to make the people we honor with our vote aware that the (re)public is evaluating them.  I have made every effort to ensure that my facts and positions are accurate but be aware of the limitations of even a dedicated layman.  Check the facts.  I heartily encourage you to collaborate with me to expand this effort.

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A Sample County Sheriff Candidate Questionnaire

1. Where does the County Sheriff derive his authority from?

2. What are the proper roles and functions of federal, state and local law enforcement?  How do these agencies determine their jurisdictional boundaries when their duties intersect? 

3. What local circumstances do you think would justify a request for federal law enforcement assistance by a county Sheriff?  What level of authority does the county Sheriff retain after federal authorities are present?

4. Are there any conditions that you believe justify disarming of lawful citizens? 

5. What would be your basic policy on the following issues?

*Suspicion-less Checkpoints (safety, sobriety, license/insurance, seatbelt, illicit drug checks, roadside “voluntary” surveys etc.)?

*Privatization of traditional law enforcement duties (warrant processing, prison management)?

* The 2^nd amendment and “gun free zones”

6. How do you plan to handle asset forfeiture in order to ensure that your department stays ethical?

7. In your opinion, does the process of seeking or accepting Federal Grants have the potential to cause a conflict of interest for local law enforcement?   If so, how can the process be balanced in a way that would preserve natural, local authority?

8. The US holds 5% of the world’s population and 25% of the world’s incarcerated.  More than 1 in 100 Americans are currently imprisoned giving the U.S. the highest per capita incarceration rate in the world. What are the reasons for this and what can or should be about the situation? 

  I appreciate any information, comments or suggestions that you would like to offer.