Boosted by the pandemic, 'constitutional sheriffs' are a political force

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Politics

Boosted by the pandemic, ‘constitutional sheriffs’ are a political force

By Kimberly Kindy
Today at 6:00 a.m. EDT

As Mark Lomax campaigns for the top law enforcement position in Bucks County, Pa., there’s one question some voters keep asking: Will he be a “constitutional sheriff”?

The 62-year-old former state trooper has largely avoided the polarizing label, which refers to a movement of sheriffs who argue that their power to interpret the law is above any state or federal authority — even the president.

Lomax embraces the unique powers of elected sheriffs, who report directly to voters, unlike police chiefs, who are generally hired and fired at will by city councils. “You pretty much have no authority above you government-wise; you answer to the voters,” Lomax said, adding that despite this freedom he plans to be “a sheriff who enforces the laws.”

In dozens of races around the nation, answering that question has become a key campaign topic, as the constitutional sheriffs movement has capitalized on anger at pandemic restrictions. While it’s unclear exactly how many law enforcement officials embrace the ideology, one group that promotes it claims up to a 10th of the nation’s sheriffs as dues-paying members, and numerous candidates for sheriff now on the ballot echo its rhetoric.

The stakes go beyond local policing issues, as sheriffs who follow the ideology have refused to enforce mask mandates and several have announced plans to resist President Biden’s impending rule that all businesses with 100 or more workers must be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus or face weekly testing.

“We will not become the mandate police,” Knox County Sheriff Tom Spangler said at a news conference in Tennessee as he discussed his Oct. 25 letter to Biden calling the vaccine mandate “unconstitutional” and “government overreach.”

Supporters of the movement see their elected sheriffs as the last line of defense against unwanted local, state and federal regulations.

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By Kimberly Kindy
Kimberly Kindy is a national investigative reporter for The Washington Post. In 2015, she was a lead reporter on the paper's Fatal Force project, which was awarded the Pulitzer Prize and George Polk award.

[OldBaldy1701E]

1. I am pretty sure there is not a sheriffs department in the country that can stand up

to 10,000 federal troops walking in and reminding these small-town wannabe dictators that they are in fact subject to federal law. Of course, letting a few try it might help the rest of these imbeciles figure out that all the chest thumping means exactly jack shit.

[underpants]

2. I've always thought this was an offshoot or related to the sovereign citizens thing

Sovereign citizens believe the local law enforcement is THE only authority that must be adhered to at least domestically. The President etc only have the power to defend against foreign powers. They also bail on mortgages all the time saying no one owns the land like back in the Homesteading days.