Wyoming sheriffs put feds in their place
February 18, 2007
Here’s one the mainstream
media isn’t going to tell you: County sheriffs in Wyoming are demanding
that federal agents actually abide by the Constitution, or face arrest.
Even better, a U.S. District Court agreed according to the Keene
Free Press:
The
court decision was the result of a suit against both the BATF and the IRS
by Mattis and other members of the Wyoming Sheriff’s Association. The
suit in the Wyoming federal court district sought restoration of the
protections enshrined in the United States Constitution and the Wyoming
Constitution.
Guess what? The District Court ruled in favor of the sheriffs. In fact,
they stated, Wyoming is a sovereign state and the duly elected sheriff of
a county is the highest law enforcement official within a county and has
law enforcement powers exceeding that of any other state or federal
official.” Go back and re-read this quote.
The court confirms and asserts that “the duly elected sheriff of a
county is the highest law enforcement official within a county and has law
enforcement powers EXCEEDING that of any other state OR federal
official.” And you thought the 10th Amendment was dead and buried —
not in Wyoming, not yet.
Bighorn
County Sheriff Dave Mattis comments:
“If
a sheriff doesn’t want the Feds in his county he has the constitutional
right and power to keep them out, or ask them to leave, or retain them in
custody.”
“I am reacting in response to the actions of federal employees who
have attempted to deprive citizens of my county of their privacy, their
liberty, and their property without regard to constitutional safeguards. I
hope that more sheriffs all across America will join us in protecting
their citizens from the illegal activities of the IRS, EPA, BATF, FBI, or
any other federal agency that is operating outside the confines of
constitutional law. Employees of the IRS and the EPA are no longer welcome
in Bighorn County unless they intend to operate in conformance to
constitutional law.”
The
implications are huge:
But
it gets even better. Since the judge stated that the sheriff “has law
enforcement powers EXCEEDING that of any other state OR federal
official,” the Wyoming sheriffs are flexing their muscles. They are
demanding access to all BATF files. Why? So as to verify that the agency
is not violating provisions of Wyoming law that prohibits the registration
of firearms or the keeping of a registry of firearm owners. This would be
wrong.
The sheriffs are also demanding that federal agencies immediately cease
the seizure of private property and the impoundment of private bank
accounts without regard to due process in Wyoming state courts.
This case is not just some amusing
mountain melodrama. This is a BIG deal. This case is yet further evidence
that the 10th Amendment is not yet totally dead, or in a complete decay in
the United States. It is also significant in that it can, may, and
hopefully will be interpreted to mean that “political subdivisions of a
State are included within the meaning of the amendment, or that the powers
exercised by a sheriff are an extension of those common law powers which
the 10th Amendment explicitly reserves to the People, if they are not
granted to the federal government or specifically prohibited to the
States.”
The
United States
Constitution
The
Bill of Rights
Declaration
of
Independence
