Are sheriffs special in America? Definitely -- but not the way the far right claims

[marmar]

Are sheriffs special in America? Definitely — but not the way the far right claims
Scholar Mirya Holman on "The Power of the Badge" — and how county sheriffs enforce American inequality

By Paul Rosenberg
Contributing Writer
Published September 15, 2024 9:00AM (EDT)


(Salon) Sheriffs are unique figures in American politics and American society — but not in the way that many people, especially on the far right, would have you believe. The right-wing conception of the "constitutional sheriff" runs up against the fact that the word “sheriff” appears nowhere in the U.S. Constitution. It's mentioned in many state constitutions, but not all of them: In fact, Connecticut, which dubs itself the "Constitution State,” has abolished the office altogether. But the myth endures for a reason, reflecting the fact that county sheriffs, while almost always elected officials, are generally not well integrated into the fabric of government with its multiple paths of checks and balances.

As a result, local sheriffs have often been able to resist various reform efforts over the years, and the most recent wave of criminal justice reforms have not been an exception. The anomalous and isolated status of sheriffs is reflected in media coverage and academic research as well. Individual sheriffs like the notorious Joe Arpaio, former sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona, may gain significant local or even national attention, but consistent, systemic scrutiny is rare. So "The Power of the Badge: Sheriffs and Inequality in the United States," a new book by political scientists Emily M. Farris and Mirya R. Holman, is long overdue.

....(snip)....

I recently interviewed co-author Mirya Holman, an associate professor at the University of Houston's Hobby School of Public Affairs, via Zoom. This transcript has been edited for clarify and length.

Your first chapter looks at the sheriff's office in the larger context of U.S. history. You have sections addressing the era of slavery and Reconstruction, the "Posse Comitatus" movement and the recent phenomenon of the "constitutional sheriff." We could easily spend the whole interview asking about this chapter, since it covers so much ground. Let me start by asking about the main lessons we should learn from that history. What are the important patterns that emerge?

One key takeaway for me is that sheriffs have regularly used social control in communities as a tool to make sure that some groups of people remain in power and other groups of people don't have access to power. If we think about sheriffs' role in slavery, for example, sheriffs were one of the primary offices engaged in enforcing runaway-slave acts, financially benefited from capturing individuals who had fled slavery and regularly engaged in actions to ensure that white people and communities were able to have power and Black people were not able to have power. ...................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2024/09/15/are-sheriffs-special-in-america-definitely--but-not-the-way-the-far-right-claims/

[ret5hd]

1. a nice description of a constitutional sheriff: