Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association

The Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association (CSPOA) is a political organization of local police officials in the United States who believe that federal and state government authorities are subordinate to local government authority. Self-described "constitutional sheriffs" believe that sheriffs are the highest governmental authority and that they have the power and duty to defy or disregard laws they deem unconstitutional.[1][2] The movement is related to previous "nullification" and "interposition" notions,[3] and promotes such efforts.[4] It has been described as far-right by the Southern Poverty Law Center.[5] The CSPOA has claimed a membership of 400.[2]

Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association
Membership
400
Founder
Richard Mack

The movement has some ideological similarities with, the Patriot movement (militia movement) and the sovereign citizen movement, and some members of those movements also espouse "constitutional sheriff" ideology.[6][3] The "constitutional sheriff" or "county supremacy" movement itself arose from the far-right Posse Comitatus, a racist and anti-Semitic group of the 1970s and 1980s that also defined the county sheriff as the highest "legitimate" authority in the country,[3][7] and was characterized by paramilitary figures and the promotion of conspiracy theories.[3] The ideological basis of the sheriffs' movement is based on various incorrect historical and legal claims.[3]

A number of county sheriffs in the United States have expressed sympathy with the movement's goals and have publicly vowed not to enforce laws they deem unconstitutional.[1] Law professor Eric Tsai writes that, "in practice constitutional sheriffs and their followers tend to occupy the edges of anti-government conservatism, organizing themselves to promote gun rights and property rights, to resist tax laws, national healthcare, gay marriage."[3] Members of the movement have vowed not to enforce gun laws,[8] public health measures adopted to combat the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic,[1][2][9] and federal land use regulations.[2] Sheriffs who refuse to enforce land-use laws facilitate the illegal use of public land (for example, for livestock grazing or all-terrain vehicles use) and in some cases have threatened Bureau of Land Management (BLM) employees.[2] A research study of reports from 1995 to 2015 found that counties with sheriffs who are members of the movement "have higher rates of violence against BLM employees than other Western counties."[2]

The movement has attracted support from some landowners, county commissioners, law enforcement figures (in particular Richard Mack and Joe Arpaio), and some politicians who have played on "fears of federal officials intruding on property rights and gun rights."[3]

References
  1. Jason Wilson, US sheriffs rebel against state mask orders even as Covid-19 spreads, The Guardian (July 31, 2020).
  2. Zoe Nemerever, Why 'constitutionalist sheriffs' won't enforce coronavirus restrictions, Washington Post (April 23, 2020).
  3. Robert L. Tsai, The Troubling Sheriffs’ Movement That Joe Arpaio Supports, Politico (September 1, 2017).
  4. Cloee Cooper, How a Right-Wing Network Mobilized Sheriffs’ Departments, Political Research Associates (June 10, 2019).
  5. "Line In The Sand". Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  6. Rothschild, Mike, What this Sheriff said on Twitter is part of a dangerous trend, Attn.com (Oct. 15, 2016).
  7. Potok, Mark and Lenz, Ryan, Line in the Sand, Intelligence Report, Southern Poverty Law Center (Jun. 13, 2016).
  8. Martin Kaste, When Sheriffs Won't Enforce The Law, NPR (February 21, 2019).
  9. Brooke Wolford, Sheriffs across US are not enforcing coronavirus stay-at-home orders. Is that legal?, Miami Herald (April 21, 2020).

See also
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