May Be Time to Get to Know Your Sheriff: the power of localism
by Jackie Payne
County sheriffs in Wyoming have scored a big one for the 10th Amendment
and states rights. The sheriffs slapped federal intrusion upside the
head and are insisting that all federal law enforcement officers and
personnel from federal regulatory agencies must clear all their
activities in a Wyoming county with the Sheriff's Office. Deja vu for
those who remember big Richard Mack in Arizona.
Bighorn County Sheriff Dave Mattis spoke at a press conference following
the recent U.S. District Court decision (Case No. 2:96-cv-099-J) and
announced that all federal officials are forbidden to enter his county
without his prior approval. "If a sheriff doesn't want the Feds in his
county he has the constitutional power and right to keep them out or ask
them to leave or retain them in custody."
The court decision was the result of a suit against both the BATF and
the IRS by Mattis and other members of the Wyoming Sheriffs'
Association. The suit in the Wyoming federal court district sought
restoration of the protections enshrined in the United States
Constitution and the Wyoming Constitution.
Guess what? The District Court ruled in favor of the sheriffs. In fact,
they stated, "Wyoming is a sovereign state and the duly elected sheriff
of a county is the highest law enforcement official within a county and
has law enforcement powers exceeding that of any other state or federal
official." Go back and re-read that quote. The court confirms and
asserts, "the duly elected sheriff of a county is the highest law
enforcement official within a county and has law enforcement powers
EXCEEDING that of any other state OR federal official." And you thought
the 10th Amendment was dead and buried -- not in Wyoming, not yet.
But it gets even better. Since the judge states the sheriff"has law
enforcement powers EXCEEDING that of any other state OR federal
official," the Wyoming sheriffs are flexing their muscles. They are
demanding access to all BATF files. Why? So as to verify the agency is
not violating provisions of Wyoming law that prohibits the registration
of firearms or the keeping of a registry of firearm owners. See, that
would be wrong. The sheriffs are also demanding that federal agencies
immediately cease the seizure of private property and the impoundment of
private bank accounts without regard to due process in state courts.
Gosh, it kinda makes you wish the sheriffs of whatever counties have
Waco, Texas, and Oklahoma City in their jurisdictions were drinking the
same water these Wyoming sheriffs are...
Sheriff Mattis said, "I am reacting to the actions of federal employees
who have attempted to deprive citizens of my county of their privacy,
their liberty, and their property without regard to constitutional
safeguards. I hope that more sheriffs all across America will join us in
protecting their citizens from the illegal activities of the IRS, EPA,
BATF, FBI, or any other federal agency that is operating outside the
confines of constitutional law. Employees of the IRS and the EPA are no
longer welcome in Bighorn County unless they intend to operate in
conformance to constitutional law." Amen.
However, the sad reality is that sheriffs are elected, and that means
they are required to be both law enforcement managers and politicians.
Unfortunately, Wyoming sheriffs are the exception rather than the rule
... but they shouldn't be. Sheriffs have enormous power, if or when they
choose to use it. I share the hope of Sheriff Mattis that "more sheriffs
all across America will join us in protecting their citizens. ..."
If Wyoming Sheriffs can follow in the steps of former Arizona Sheriff
Richard Mack and both recognize their power and authority, they could
become champions for the memory of Thomas Jefferson who died "thinking"
he had won those states' rights debates with Alexander Hamilton.
This case is not some amusing mountain melodrama. This is a BIG deal. It
is yet further evidence that the 10th Amendment is not yet totally dead,
atrophied, or in complete decay in the United States. It is also
significant in that it can/may, and hopefully will be interpreted to
mean that "political subdivisions of a State are included within the
meaning of the amendment, or that the powers exercised by a sheriff are
an extension of those common law powers which the Tenth Amendment
explicitly reserves to the People, if they are not granted to the
federal government and specifically prohibited to the States."
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