Constitutional sheriff is last bastion to protect people from overreaching government

Editor:

In his letter posted March 1, Mr. Tom Graham brought up some interesting questions. I recommend that the reader review the letter to refresh the memory; I will try to answer Mr. Graham point by point.

*The Constitution does not allow any one branch to usurp the power of another; however, there is a clear balance between them. At the Federal level, the judiciary was intended to interpret the laws and determine if they followed the Constitution, not to legislate from the bench. An excellent article that explains the original function of the three branches of government is found by clicking here.

The founders declared that the states were responsible to nullify unConstitutional laws against their people, and that the judiciary should not be in authority over the states. Considering the states have abdicated their responsibilities to the people, it falls on the local governments to do so. And in their ineptitude, the sheriff is the last bastion of the people.

*Your deputization would depend on your sheriff’s need for help. It does not give you the right to pick and choose laws to follow. It does put you into subjection to your superior who has an eye on the Constitution and laws that go against it. For example, jaywalking is not a Constitutional right. Speeding is not a Constitutional right. Stealing is not. Freedom of speech is. Freedom from unlawful search and seizure (warrant-less searches and civil asset “forfeiture”) is protected. The right to defend oneself and one’s property is protected. Trial by jury is. Your sheriff might decide that he will not practice civil asset forfeiture, or not restrict gun rights, and you as the deputy would have to follow that…or quit. The responsibility would not be on you because you were hired; the burden is on the sheriff who was elected by the people and answers only to them.

*Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association continues to say, “As an elected official he/she is the ultimate protector of the people providing a check and balance locally for any state or federal agency that may infringe the constitutional rights of the people.”

*I refer you to my previous letter and the links to the sheriff’s honor roll, as well as other sheriffs who interposed themselves between the people and oppressive state or federal agencies. They are protectors of the Constitution to which they gave an oath and not to code and law enforcement only.

*I don’t believe I ever said that law enforcement was exempt from any laws that are enforced on the people. In fact, they should be held to a higher standard. That they are not always shows the disdain for the liberty and equality that our founding fathers bestowed upon us, and proves that they are breaking the oath that they took.

Judy Larkin

Ridgeway