For Songer, it was a tipping point. Its virtually the same as the oath that every other government officer takes, said Bhattacharyya. Op. professionalism, leadership development, The Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association (CSPOA), a network of local law enforcement founded in . Recent events have shown that local and federal politicians are eager to . I will follow the rule of law, Klickitat County Sheriff Bob Songer said at the time, when I believe its constitutional.. However, where the office of sheriff is named in the constitution, his duties are the same as they were at the time the constitution was adopted. Bob Barr represented Georgia's Seventh District in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 2003. The legislative session kicks off today in Olympia, and state lawmakers have a full agenda: gun regulations, education, big budget questions and more. Nowhere does there appear any specific mandate to the sheriff to investigate criminal charges. OPBs critical reporting and inspiring programs are made possible by the power of member support. Its origins are in the American county supremacy movement, which includes two concepts that often work in tandem. And with the Nov. 8, 2022, election just around the corner, candidates for sheriff in Washington are increasingly touting their constitutional sheriff credentials, with many believing that they have the ultimate authority to decide what is constitutional and to enforce the law accordingly. Honorable John PaneskoProsecuting AttorneyLewis CountyChehalis, Washington Cite as: AGO 51-53 No. Less than 34% of the $2.6 million Iowans have donated to an Iowa sheriffs' group in recent years has been used for the stated purpose of . / November 7, 2022. This idea was pioneered by Christian identity minister William Potter Gale in the 1970's and State v. McCarty, 104 Kans. Washington: DC: Monday . The Washington Standard / January 17, 2023. The job of this specific sheriff is to protect your personal rights against all foreign and domestic threats. Mack went on a speaking junket in 2021, promoting the organization at a series of events alongside a long list of extremists. The primary purpose of this Sheriff is to protect, https://sheriffconstitutional.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Tuesday-story-recording.mp3, Constitutional Sheriffs Article 11, 5 of Washington State, If the local government of this county attempts to rob or violate your constitutional rights. 225 (1916). Still, mainstream is a relative term: Thirteen sheriffs in Scotts 46-county home state have been convicted of criminal charges in the past 11 years, and one of the National Sheriffs Associations new executive members, Chris West of Oklahoma, was at the Capitol on Jan. 6. 3060 Willamette Drive, NE #200. within the Constitution of the State of Washington. Tags:Law Enforcement, Politics, Election 2022. . And here in Washington state, weve got some bad guys in government.. Wildlife. Some Sheriff's Candidates Run on Not Enforcing Certain Laws. When the group of Washington sheriffs defied the state gun laws in 2019, Gov. King County recently made the sheriff an appointed position instead of an elected one. Of course, if the situation should arise in which a sheriff had committed a misdemeanor such as set out in RCW 36.28.140, or misconduct as set out in chapter 42.20 RCW, it would then become the duty of the county prosecuting attorney to prosecute the action in behalf of the county and the state, but this authority can be exercised only in respect to prior action or inaction of the sheriff and cannot be used prospectively to move the sheriff to any action. Out of 39 counties in Washington, 17 current sheriffs endorsed Songer. In a May 2020 interview posted to YouTube, Mack described this view, saying: Let me make this real clear: The President of the United States cannot tell your sheriff what to do. training and dialogue among its members and the law Michael Peroutka, a neo-Confederate, Christian Reconstructionist anti-LGBTQ activist who was the Constitution Party's presidential candidate in 2004. In recent months, a group of self-proclaimed "constitutional sheriffs" in Washington state has . While sheriffs have discretion they dont go after every person for jaywalking, for example their oath of office does not give them the authority to pass laws like legislatures or to decide their constitutionality like the courts. Not partially or totally mentally incapacitated. In 2019, self-described Constitutional Sheriffs in Washington, urged on by militia and extremist right-wing groups, refused to enforce a new gun law. Jay Inslee because it is "inconsistent with Article I, Section 24 of the Washington State Constitution. I dont think thats the right tool, Burghart said. A campaign manager for Clark County sheriff candidate Rey Reynolds responded to InvestigateWests questions with a letter to the editor Reynolds wrote to a local paper in which he said, the sheriff is the ultimate law enforcement authority in a county. The campaign did not respond to follow-up questions aiming to clarify whether he believes sheriffs power supersedes state and federal officials. At least 20 county sheriffs in Washington state . For one, the word sheriff doesnt appear in the U.S. Constitution. In Chelan County, Sheriff Brian Burnett said its kind of a fine line. Burnett, who is also the president of the Washington State Sheriffs Association, said hes attended speeches by Mack but that Burnett didnt agree with the total philosophy. Sheriffs, Burnett conceded, dont make laws and arent interpreters of the law. Whereas Supreme Court justices are often fervent legal scholars, the Montgomery County, Texas, sheriffs office, which held a constitutional sheriff event in February 2021, requires their sheriff to be: There is no requirement that a sheriff reads or understands the Constitution. Sheriffs and ICE. In Ferry county in eastern Washington, more than 72% of voters rejected I-1639. The sheriffs protection starts when he tells the intruder, by the power vested in me by the Constitutions of the United States and the State of Washington, you are noticed you will not be admitted into this county. In 2014, Mack participated in the Bundy standoff against the U.S. government, in Bunkerville, Nevada, alongside his fellow Oath Keepers and additional militias. Police reform initiatives launched after George Floyds murder have largely overlooked the nations more than 3,000 county sheriffs, most of them elected. That's not a "movement" as Ms. Donnelly suggests - that's a fact of the position. His ideas went on to influence sovereign citizens and militia . Recent events have shown that local and federal politicians are eager to impose authoritarian measures in the name of "the common good." Already, 2020 election deniers are recruiting county sheriffs to more closely watch over future elections. In 2013, CSPOA publicly distributed a list with the names of over 400 county sheriffs making the claim that these particular sheriffs would not enforce any new gun laws. "Federal and state can be stopped by the power and authority of the sheriff." According to Cloee Cooper, Watts and his fellow "constitutional sheriffs" belong to the far-right Patriot Movement - a broad coalition that includes militias like the Oath Keepers and Three Percenters. Gov. To people like Michael German, a former FBI special agent who embedded with militias and is . Constitutional Duty of the Sheriff - Richard Mack TOTAL STATE SHERIFFS ASSOCIATIONS: 17 Updated 02/22/2014 Note: A statement from a state association does not necessarily mean that every sheriff in the state supports it. The so-called "constitutional sheriff" movement has grown in Washington. "The law enforcement powers held by the sheriff supersede those of any agent, officer, elected official or employee from any level of government when in the jurisdiction of the county," it says. The fringe ideology of "constitutional sheriffs" is attracting believers within Texas law enforcement. They were also pivotal to the formation of the modern constitutional sheriff, militia and sovereign citizen movements, all of whom distrust or detest the government. The Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association was founded in 2011 by Richard Mack, a former sheriff in Arizona who believes the greatest threat we face, as a nation, is our own federal government. The organization was opposed to the Obama administrations gun initiatives and promised its members wouldnt enforce policies they thought violated the Constitution. In Washington, a sheriff can be removed through a recall process just like any other elected politician, but recall efforts are typically unsuccessful. What Is A Constitutional Sheriff? This posse comitatus based rallying cry continues to be the primary theme that permeates the ideology of CSPOA and other constitutional sheriffs across America. It is a federal crime for politician to compromise their oath or sells your unalienable rights or freedom for monetary gain. CSPOA lifetime member and constitutional sheriff Bob Songer of Klickitat, Washington, forwarded an email from Mack to multiple Washington sheriffs titled You Swore and Oath to Our Constitution where he claimed, No Governors proclamations order can override your liberties without violating your constitutional rights even during a crisis. Songers stance remained the same even after he was hospitalized for five days with COVID-19. In May, the group listed Songer as a sheriff committed to investigating election fraud and quoted Songer saying he was convinced there was widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election after seeing the widely debunked film 2000 Mules.. Stream all three seasons only with OPB Passport! CONTACT US. Follow our team of columnists and reporters who write about the media. InvestigateWest (invw.org) is an independent news nonprofit dedicated to investigative journalism in the Pacific Northwest. Sheriff Myers is an active member. But while constitutional sheriffs often use this argument, it doesnt hold up to scrutiny, said Bhattacharyya, who has held leadership positions with the U.S. Department of Justice and the Department of the Treasury. I think its a decision that communities have to make on their own, she said. These few, vocal sheriffs who have gone a little bit rogue are very concerning, she said. (Klickitat County Sheriffs Office photo). In both of these cases the inaction of the sheriff was flagrant and the violations of law about which nothing was done were many. Such notions have long been promoted by figures like sheriff Richard Mack, who leads the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association. Its not just worrisome because they may decide not to enforce laws they disagree with. Since then, the so-called "constitutional sheriff" movement has grown in Washington and other . Around the same time, county officials began passing Second Amendment sanctuary legislation, most of which affirmed that additional state and federal gun control laws would not be enforced by the county. The oath that sheriffs take is not unique. June 25, 2022, at 10:10 a.m. In defense to a petition for removal the sheriff insisted he was under no duty to do detective services to discover violations of law. In reversing a decree refusing to remove the sheriff, the court held that the duties of the sheriff cannot be performed without some degree of diligence to inform himself of conditions in his county. A campaign manager for Clark County sheriff candidate Rey Reynolds responded to InvestigateWests questions with a letter to the editor Reynolds wrote to a local paper in which he said, the sheriff is the ultimate law enforcement authority in a county. The campaign did not respond to follow-up questions aiming to clarify whether he believes sheriffs power supersedes state and federal officials. General duties. Listen to the Story, Saving Skagit County. This beloved show is back with more tales from James Herriott and the delightful Yorkshire Dales. At some point if you end up with a corrupt government, if somebody is doing something that you believe is not constitutional, thats where the sheriff has not just the right, but a duty to intervene and uphold those laws, Burnett said in an interview. In March 2011, for example, New Hampshire sheriff Christopher Conley who was listed as a member of the council of the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association from November 2012 . Much of this distrust by the antigovernment movement was built around the federal governments response to the Weavers of Ruby Ridge, Idaho, and the Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas. It was a turning point for Songer. and the United States, the mission of the Washington State I said, You know, if Im going to be elected sheriff, my primary job is to interpose when government is the bad guy, Songer said. More recently, Mack and the association have been focused on resisting COVID mandates and encouraging sheriffs to investigate unfounded conspiracies about the 2020 election. Mack is a former Graham County, Arizona, sheriff and a former Oath Keepers board member. We promise they will not leave the same, CSPOAs leader former sheriff Richard Mack said of the event during a Feb. 23 interview on the right-wing online show American Journal that was rebroadcast to Infowars. Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association The Constitutional Law group run by a non-attorney sovereign citizen who spent time during the pandemic offering his services as an attorney to businesses defying COVID-19 health guidelines listed CSPOA as a sponsor on their website and claimed to be working closely with CSPOA. Hoping to quell their constituents' fears, the Washington State Sheriffs' Association put out a statement last week affirming their commitment to uphold the Constitution - specifically, the Second Amendment. A far-right "Constitutional Sheriffs" group has partnered with a vicious antisemite on the Arise USA bus tour to find recruits and woo county sheriffs. The power of sheriffs does not outrank the feds or the state, but in practice, theres often little to be done about a sheriff who refuses to enforce laws. Collins dressed as George Washington for the training. The "constitutional sheriffs" movement, which has ties to the Oath Keepers and other antigovernment fringe movements, is based on the legally dubious belief that sheriffs are the ultimate law enforcement authority within their counties, superseding state and federal officials, including the U.S. president. Higley, AZ, SPLC is a nonprofit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization (EIN: 63-0598743), Local Policing and Immigration Enforcement, Request for Legal Assistance Economic Justice, mass shooting at an Aurora, Colorado, movie theater, Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, shooting at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School, openly defied his governors stay-at-home orders, were actually attempting a legal citizens arrest, antisemitic conspiracy theorist Robert David Steele. Songer has been a prominent voice for Macks group after Mack celebrated his stance on Washingtons gun laws. Other sheriffs, however, took a strong stance against the idea that sheriffs have unilateral authority when reached by InvestigateWest. Other Washington sheriffs and candidates have similar beliefs even if they arent members of the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association like Songer. 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