In a few weeks “We the People” will be asked to elect a county sheriff. Constitutional Sheriff, Jeff Christopher, lost to Robert Lee by a mere 19 votes in the Republican Primary. Only registered Republicans were allowed to vote in that election. Since that time, Sheriff Christopher has been granted permission from the Election Board to be a write-in candidate in the election November 4.
A “Constitutional” sheriff is one who stands for the people of the county, and in opposition to those who would diminish or erase the constitutional rights of the people. Remember that our defining founding document, The Declaration of Independence, specifically defines the purpose of all government – to protect the God-given rights of the people.
In Delaware, a judge decided in 2012 that the elected sheriff in each county was an employee of the court and answerable only to the court. The sheriff’s job, according to the court, is to serve warrants and collect taxes (sheriff sales). This decision, made by an unelected judge, overturned a couple of hundred years of tradition and Constitutional mandate. The office of sheriff has been part of the Delaware Constitution since its inception. The sheriff was to be elected by “The People”, and was specifically identified as the “Conservator of the Peace” (A.K.A. C.o.p.) in each county.
There must have been a very compelling reason for colonial Delawareans to determine that the sheriff in each county was to be elected by the people. It was most certainly not to elect a “clerk.” Clerks are hired, not elected! (It is interesting that the learned judges of the court have difficulty defining “conservator of the peace.”) No other law enforcement entity is elected. The state police did not exist until 1922. In 1925 the Delaware Code clarified the duties of the newly created state police in Title 11, Section 8302 that the state police shall be “conservators of the peace” and shall have police powers like the sheriff.
While I have the highest regard for our state police officers, I might remind you that the superintendent of the state police is appointed by the governor and serves at the pleasure of the governor. No police officer is elected by the people.
Wise King Solomon anciently said there is nothing new under the sun. The more we study history, the more this truth becomes evident. For those of you who have forgotten, or perhaps never knew, the sheriff of Nottinghamshire (England) served under King John (1199 to 1216 A.D.) The sheriff’s duty was to serve warrants and collect taxes from citizens and/or foreclose on property when taxes had not been paid. The Sheriff’s main protagonist was Robin of Locksley (A.K.A. Robin Hood) and his band of Merry Men hiding in Sherwood Forest. Robin and his companions waylaid the sheriff and his deputies whenever possible, took the money collected and returned it to the people. Does something about this sound vaguely familiar?
So, here we are in 2014 and “We the People” are asked to elect a sheriff who is simply a clerk of an unelected court. Why? Just who does the sheriff answer to…the people who elected him or her or unelected judges? In this situation there is not a dime’s worth the difference between the Republican candidate for sheriff or the Democrat candidate. “We the People” have been neatly disenfranchised by the court ruling in 2012. The sheriff simply does the bidding of an unelected court, which advises a rubber-stamp Sussex County Council. We therefore have the equivalent of the “Sheriff of Nottingham” in Sussex County.
To the court and most members of the county council it is clear that “We the People” are of no consequence. However, if you want your elected sheriff to stand with you, be responsible to you, and be a constitutional sheriff in protecting your rights, write in your vote November 4 for Sussex County Sheriff Jeff Christopher.
You only need to write “Christopher” in the appropriate space on the voting machine to vote for a Constitutional Sheriff. If you are unhappy with the current situation, your vote could make the difference!
Marjorie C. Davis
Lewes
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