The County Sheriff: America’s Last Hope

UPDATE 3.31.23: In response to new calls for gun control by Democrats in the federal government, the sheriffs of the CSPOA are again reaffirming their power to protect Americans’ constitutional rights from overreach by the federal government. KTXS12’s Jaie Avila reports (abridged):

A group of sheriffs from Texas and other states claims the Constitution gives them power to oppose some federal laws. The Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association points to a case in 1997 where the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the federal government couldn’t force local officers to perform gun background checks.

The sheriffs say they don’t have to enforce any law they believe violates the Constitution. One of the sheriffs involved in that case was Sheriff Richard Mack of Graham County, Arizona. He later founded the CSPOA.

At their conferences sheriffs and other law enforcement officers are trained how to push back against what they consider federal government overreach.

“That’s our job, it isn’t to go along with bureaucrats. It isn’t to go along with government criminals. It is to uphold and defend the Constitution and defend the American people’s liberty,” Mack said.

Sheriff Randy Hargrove of Houston County in East Texas has attended the conferences and says sheriffs have the power to investigate election irregularities, as well as to refuse to enforce mask mandates and gun laws.

“They have the authority to stand against any laws that go against your second amendment. Okay, ATF, we’re not going to let you come in and start taking everybody’s guns. We’re not going to let it happen,” Hargrove said.

“If someone is violating your rights as a citizen, it’s my duty to see that those rights are protected,” says Hargrove.

“Put yourself in the way of people who are trying to victimize innocent American people,” Mack said.

The Texas Commission on Law Enforcement, which certifies peace officers, said in several instances officers have received continuing education credit for attending Constitutional Sheriffs’ conferences. However, the commission says it is now investigating the events.

Mack estimates 900 sheriffs have attended the conferences in the last ten years. The Bexar and Comal County Sheriffs said they’ve never been to one.

UPDATE 1.5.23: The left is growing increasingly aware and afraid of the Constitutional Sheriffs movement. The Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association was started by Sheriff Richard Mack, who you can read more about below. The CSPOA believes that the county sheriff is a powerful check on any abuse of power by the federal government. They write on their website:

In addition to upholding the law, the sheriff is also charged with upholding the supreme law, the Constitution.

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.

The vertical separation of powers in the Constitution makes it clear that the power of the sheriff even supersedes the powers of the President.  

Furthermore, it is this responsibility that grants a Sheriff the Constitutional authority to check and balance all levels of government within the jurisdiction of the County.

For threatening the authoritarian desires of those in Washington, D.C., the left has come out firing every weapon possible at the CSPOA, including calling the organization “racist.” Recently, the radical left wing Legal Defense Fund sent at letter to two Associate Attorneys General of the United States, Vanita Gupta and Kristen Clarke, calling the CSPOA a threat to “multi-racial society.” Now the LDF wants the federal government to crush the CSPOA by implementing multiple steps to squash any resistance to federal power. The steps are:

• The Department should publish guidance clearly and explicitly rejecting the position that sheriffs hold a special place in our constitutional order granting them supremacy over all other authorities to decide a law’s constitutionality within their county.
• The Department’s Civil Rights Division should use its multiple levers to mitigate the threats posed by constitutional sheriffs. It should convene an intra-Division working group to assess whether individual sheriffs’ actions violate federal laws enforced by the Division’s sections.
• The Department should exercise its convening power and influence with law enforcement associations to urge law enforcement groups to reject the ideas and practices promoted by the constitutional sheriffs movement and affiliated organizations that threaten to undermine the ability of Black and Brown communities to participate in core functions of a multiracial democracy, including voting and education.
• The Department should use the levers within the President’s May 25, 2022 Executive Order 14074 (“Order”) to mitigate the anti-governmental practices of sheriffs.
• The Department should address the threat of constitutional sheriffs and recruitment of law enforcement by white nationalist groups discussed in our September 13, 2022 letter to the Attorney General through interagency policy committees mentioned above or developed following the administration’s United We Stand summit.

Obviously, the left feels that its power is threatened by the voice of the people, the constitutional sheriffs. Any resistance to the radical leftist agenda is seen as a threat and is targeted as such. Unfortunately for the Biden administration and the LDF, Sheriff Mack and CSPOA are unlikely to back down in their commitment to the Constitution and to the American people. Mack already fought the Clinton administration and won. There’s no doubt he can do the same against the current occupant of the White House.

UPDATE 1.24.22: The shooting of two police officers in New York City over the weekend, with one dead and one in critical condition, is a wakeup call that Americans deserve more of a say in their law enforcement. Woke Democrats like Manhattan’s new DA, Alvin Bragg, have emboldened criminals with soft-on-crime policies like no bail, and sometimes no prosecution at all. The NY Post reports: 

An NYPD rookie cop was shot dead and another officer left clinging to life after being ambushed “suddenly, without warning” during a domestic disturbance call involving a mother and son Friday evening in Harlem, authorities said.

The slain officer, Jason Rivera, was just 22 and started on the job in 2020, police said. The gravely injured cop, 27-year-old Wilbert Mora, joined the force in 2018.

“It’s bad,” a police source said of Mora’s condition. One of the two officers was struck in the face, sources said.

Mayor Eric Adams, a former NYPD captain himself, should work hard to clamp down on crime in his city. 

The exploding crime in America’s big cities is one more reminder of the power of directly elected law enforcement officers like Constitutional Sheriffs, who serve at the will of the people, not the will of woke politicians and their donors. – E.J. Smith, Your Survival Guy

Originally posted March 31, 2021.

The Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers describe Sheriff Richard Mack’s book, The County Sheriff: America’s Last Hope like this:

Sheriff Mack covers decades of research to prove once and for all that the sheriffs in this country are indeed the ultimate law authority in their respective jurisdictions. The sheriff absolutely has the power and responsibility to defend his citizens against all enemies, including those from our own Federal Government. History, case law, common law and common sense all show clear evidence that the sheriff is the people’s protector in all issues of injustice and is responsible for keeping the peace in all matters. He is the last line of defense for his constituents; he is America’s last hope to regain our forgotten freedom. This short but powerful book is a must read for all citizens, sheriffs, and government officials that we may all work to return America to the constitutional republic she was meant to be. Amazing as it might be, the sheriff can make this happen!