Delaware
Related: About this forumSussex County Sheriff Jeff Christopher: God made him sheriff to fight tyranny as an utimate enforcer
I believe Mr. Berryhill made a quick reference to this situation previously in this Group thread.Good Lord, I wish I could post the entire article but please check it out yourself as long as Gannett lets The News Journal make it available.
While not truly funny I couldn't help the laugh/snort that escaped when one of the commenters mentioned lower Delaware becoming something we should be calling Delatucky.
His rhetoric places him in the company of a small but growing number of conservative county sheriffs who see themselves as the ultimate enforcers of the Bill of Rights and the Constitution, The News Journal has found.
snip-
The so-called constitutional sheriffs' movement will reach a key point this week at its inaugural conference in Las Vegas, which Christopher plans to attend. About 115 sheriffs have registered for the event, headlined "No Sheriff Left Behind."
The project is spearheaded by former Arizona sheriff and tea party proponent Richard Mack, who gained national attention from a 1997 Supreme Court case he brought over enforcement of part of the Brady Bill gun-control law.
much more in full article:
http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20120124/NEWS/201240343/Sheriffs-unite-defense-authority?odyssey=mod
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)There is a connection between bumblefuck sheriffs and the Sovereign Citizen movement. They have this bizarre legal voodoo under which sheriffs are the highest civil authority.
Christopher is up to his ears in that nonsense along with his head cheerleader Don Ayotte. There isn't a crack of daylight between these folks and the militia/oathkeepers/sovcits.
Sussex gets a pretty good deal from the Delaware State Police for local police work, and Chritopher's bizarre crusade makes as little economic sense as empowering this very disturbed little dictator wannabe.
cyberpj
(10,794 posts)I know newspaper subscriptions are way down these days, let alone newspaper reading! And our 'small wonder' state is just too small to have it's own real news network. But this is evidently part of some national group - a convention? really? - and it should be getting some national attention if they keep up the type of rhetoric noted in that article!
There are a lot of DU threads concerning the miitarization of the nation's police. I believe that's true because I've seen articles about states and cities getting training from Blackwater/Xe/Academie or whatever they've changed their name to these days. I suppose they all used their 'homeland security' money from the Bush administration to buy that training plus all the riot gear they have these days that they're using on Occupy protesters.
But to have this 'attitude' at the local sheriff's level was a bit of a surprise for me. Heaven help us all if this holier than thou, 'it's my right to control you because I believe I'm in the right' system continues to spread.
treestar
(82,383 posts)Every crackpot in the world is full of confidence now.
cyberpj
(10,794 posts)After county officials ordered Christopher to stop, citing concerns over legal liability and his authority, he said he would not. State prosecutors are also reviewing an arrest made by one of his deputies.
Mack's Texas-based group is called the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, and he sits on the board of Oath Keepers, a group of current and former law-enforcement officers and military members who say their oaths to defend the Constitution mean they will not obey certain orders they regard as unconstitutional.
I was astounded when I read that part. If it was truly not within his authority to do these things why hasn't he been suspended or removed from the position? Is there no detailed job description for the position of sheriff?
Response to cyberpj (Reply #4)
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