I have been writing, and warning readers, about the “Constitutional Sheriff” movement almost since it began 20 years ago. The office of sheriff, the only elected law enforcement position in the U.S. is a leftover from medieval England that began in the American colonies before police forces were created. It has become a fascist largely White supremist authoritarian institution made up of almost entirely White men who believe they are the law above all other authorities. They are increasingly dangerous and, in my view, the office of sheriff should be eliminated in the United States, and these men should be disarmed and returned to being ordinary civilians. Here is the latest on this trend.
Richard Mack, former sheriff of Graham County, Arizona, and founder of the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, during the meeting of the state committee of the Arizona Republican Party on Jan. 27, 2018 in Phoenix. Credit: Matt York / AP
Sheriffs in the United States hold immense power. They arrest people on the streets they patrol, they run their county’s jails, and they enforce evictions. In many areas, they enforce immigration laws and conduct homicide investigations for municipal police departments in their counties.
Over the past two decades, some sheriffs have advocated for the notion of “constitutional sheriffs,” which holds that the sheriff’s authority supersedes those of local government, courts, state and federal legislatures — even that of the president of the United States. Several sheriffs in the movement have said they would not enforce some gun control laws and opposed COVID-19 lockdown restrictions.
The self-identified constitutional sheriffs and their supporters are the subject of “The Highest Law in the Land,” journalist and lawyer Jessica Pishko’s investigation into a world where sheriffs have the ultimate power. For the […]
