@Blickers,
You started this with "Ever wonder what the Oregon protestors are going on about with all this nutty "Sheriff this, sheriff that" talk?"
I told you where it originated. The Sheriff is the only elected law enforcement agent in the country. I shared a link stating where the belief comes from and as always, when you can't argue the point being made, attack the source. At least Setanta, whose knowledge of history I don't even bother questioning anymore, made an attempt to show the history of the sheriff. However, I have a wholle bunch of other links, maybe one will stand up to your scrutiny, or most likely won't as you have it set in your head that these guys must be racist because Maddow said so.
PRINTZ, SHERIFF/CORONER, RAVALLI COUNTY, MONTANA v. UNITED STATES
In Mack/Printz v USA, the U S Supreme Court declared that the states or their political subdivisions, "are not subject to federal direction." The issue of federal authority is defined even further in this most powerful Tenth Amendment decision. The two sheriffs who brought the suit objected to being forced into federal service without compensation pursuant to some misguided provisions of the Brady Bill. The sheriffs sued the USA (Clinton adm.) and won a major landmark case in favor of States' Rights and local autonomy. In this ruling by the Supreme Court, some amazing principles were exposed regarding the lack of power and authority the federal government actually has. In fact, this is exactly the issue addressed by the court when Justice Scalia opined for the majority stating, "...the Constitution's conferral upon Congress of not all governmental powers, but only discreet, enumerated ones."
Scalia then quotes the basis of the sheriffs' suit in quoting the Tenth Amendment which affirms the limited powers doctrine, "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution...are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." To clarify this point, we need to understand that the powers and jurisdiction granted to the federal government are few, precise, and expressly defined. The feds have their assignments within constitutional boundaries and the states have theirs, as well. Scalia also mentions this, "It is incontestable that the Constitution established a system of dual sovereignty" and that the states retained "a residuary and inviolable sovereignty." Scalia even goes so far as to detail who is responsible to keep the federal government in their proper place, if or when they
decide to go beyond their allotted authority. In doing so he quotes James Madison; "The local or municipal authorities form distinct and independent portions of the supremacy, no more subject, within their respective spheres, to the general authority [federal government] than the general authority is subject to them, within its own sphere." (The Federalist # 39) Thus, the federal government has no more authority to compel the states or the counties to do anything, no more so than the Prime Minister of Canada has.
National Sheriff's Association
Quote:What is the difference between a Sheriff's Office and a Sheriff's Department?
Black's Law Dictionary defines the terms as follows:
DEPARTMENT: "One of the major divisions of the executive branch of the government....generally, a branch or division of governmental administration."
OFFICE: "A right, and correspondent duty, to exercise public trust as an office. A public charge of employment... the most frequent occasions to use the word arise with reference to a duty and power conferred on an individual by the government, and when this is the connection, public office is a usual and more discriminating expression... in the constitutional sense, the term implies an authority to exercise some portion of the sovereign power either in making, executing, or administering the laws."
The Office of Sheriff is not simply another "department" of county government. The internal operation of an Office of Sheriff is the sole responsibility of the elected Sheriff. County department heads are subordinate to a county governing body, because a "department" is truly only a division of county government. The Office of Sheriff is a statutory/constitutional office having exclusive powers and authority under state law and/or state constitution. These inherent powers are not subject to the dictates of a local county governing body.
The Office of Sheriff has inherent common law powers and sovereignty granted under a state's constitution and/or state law. It is different from a county department which derives its limited authority from whatever is delegated to is by statute or by state constitution.
The use of the term "Department" implies being a subordinate unit of government (i.e. subordinate to local government - "delegated" authority from county government to a Department). The use of the term "Office" implies inherent powers and independent sovereignty.
We have people living in our country that see the federal government as the enemy. I don't side by these people, I don't have any desire to associate with these people, but I do sympathize with them and instead of deriding and mocking them, I try to understand them.
Rachel Maddow is a liberal shill that will villainize anyone that doesn't agree with her. I compare her to Glen Beck. Think how much respect you have for Glen Beck, that's how I see Maddow. There is nothing she says that should even be slightly considered true.
You brought up the group named "Posse comitatus" as an example to these people to which I can only shake my head and wonder why you would feel that either group was associated with the other. Do you have anything linking them? Any literature shared or quotes being made by Bundy?
An apple is a fruit and an orange is a fruit, but an apple ain't an orange.
Posse Comitatus Act
Quote:The Posse Comitatus Act is a United States federal law (18 U.S.C. § 1385, original at 20 Stat. 152) signed on June 18, 1878 by President Rutherford B. Hayes. The purpose of the act – in concert with the Insurrection Act of 1807 – is to limit the powers of the federal government in using federal military personnel to enforce domestic policies within the United States. It was passed as an amendment to an army appropriation bill following the end of Reconstruction, and was subsequently updated in 1956 and 1981.
The Act only specifically applies to the United States Army and, as amended in 1956, the United States Air Force. While the Act does not explicitly mention the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps, due to them being naval services, the Department of the Navy has prescribed regulations that are generally construed to give the Act force with respect to those services as well. The Act does not apply to the Army and Air National Guard under state authority from acting in a law enforcement capacity within its home state or in an adjacent state if invited by that state's governor. The United States Coast Guard, which operates under the Department of Homeland Security, is not covered by the Posse Comitatus Act either, primarily because although the Coast Guard is an armed service, it also has both a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency mission.
You can see that this act was not founded in racism nor by some southern racists.
Stumble It!
Tweet This
Bookmark on Delicious
Share on Facebook
Share on MySpace