View source for Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association

{{short description|US political organization of local police officials}}
{{Use American English|date=July 2024}}
{{contradictory|about=membership numbers|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox organization
| name                     = Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association
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| formation                = 2011
| founder                  = [[Richard Mack]]
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| membership               = 4,500 (in 2017)<ref name=Tsai/>
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}}The '''Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association''' ('''CSPOA''') is a political organization of local [[police]] officials in the [[United States]] who contend that federal and state government authorities are subordinate to the local authority of county [[sheriffs in the United States|sheriffs]] and [[County police#United States|police]]. Self-described constitutional sheriffs assert that they are the supreme legal authority with the power and duty to defy or disregard laws they regard as [[Constitutionality|unconstitutional]].<ref name=Wilson>Jason Wilson, [https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jul/31/us-sheriffs-mask-orders-covid-19-blm US sheriffs rebel against state mask orders even as Covid-19 spreads], ''The Guardian'' (July 31, 2020).</ref><ref name="Nemerever">{{cite news |last=Nemerever n|first=Zoe |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/04/23/why-constitutional-sheriffs-wont-enforce-coronavirus-restrictions/ |title=Why 'constitutionalist sheriffs' won't enforce coronavirus restrictions |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=April 23, 2020 |access-date=November 2, 2021}}</ref> As a result, they may sometimes be referred to as '''sovereign sheriffs'''.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Zeitz |first1=Joshua |title=Ask the 'Coupologists': Just What Was Jan. 6 Anyway? |url=https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/08/19/jan-6-coup-authoritarianism-expert-roundtable-00052281 |access-date=23 August 2022 |work=Politico |publisher=Politico LLC |date=19 August 2022}}</ref> The movement is related to previous [[Nullification (U.S. Constitution)|nullification]] and [[interposition]] notions,<ref name=Tsai>Robert L. Tsai, [https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/09/01/joe-arpaio-pardon-sheriffs-movement-215566 The Troubling Sheriffs’ Movement That Joe Arpaio Supports], ''Politico'' (September 1, 2017).</ref> and promotes such efforts.<ref>Cloee Cooper, [https://www.politicalresearch.org/2019/06/10/how-a-right-wing-network-mobilized-sheriffs-departments How a Right-Wing Network Mobilized Sheriffs’ Departments], Political Research Associates (June 10, 2019).</ref> It has been described as [[Far-right politics|far-right]] by the [[Southern Poverty Law Center]].<ref name="SPLC">{{cite web |title=Line In The Sand |url=https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/2016/line-sand |website=Southern Poverty Law Center |access-date=20 December 2020 |language=en}}</ref> The CSPOA has claimed a membership of 400.<ref name="Nemerever"/>
According to the [[Associated Press]], "details of its operations are closely held", and information on its finances, "where and how" it conducts its training, who its dues-paying members are, have not been released to the public.<ref name=AP-8-22-2023>{{cite news |last1=L'Heureux |first1=TJ |last2=Washington |first2=Adrienne |last3=Serna Jr. |first3=Albert |last4=Shabir |first4=Anisa |last5=Stone Simonelli |first5=Isaac |work=Associated Press News |title=A right-wing sheriffs group that challenges federal law is gaining acceptance around the country |date=22 August 2023 |url=https://apnews.com/article/constitutional-sheriffs-5568cd0b6b27680a28de8a098ed14210 |access-date=6 September 2023}}</ref> The group is now a private company according to indications of "internal records".<ref name=AP-8-22-2023/>
==History==
The association was founded in 2011 by former [[Arizona]] sheriff [[Richard Mack]] who was a board member of the [[Oath Keepers]] at the time.<ref name="boosted">{{cite news |last=Kindy |first=Kimberly |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/constitutional-sheriffs-elections-trump-pandemic/2021/11/01/4c14c764-368b-11ec-91dc-551d44733e2d_story.html |title=Boosted by the pandemic, 'constitutional sheriffs' are a political force |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=November 2, 2021 |access-date=November 2, 2021}}</ref> In 2017, the association said it had 4,500 dues-paying members, with more than 200 sheriffs among them.<ref name=Tsai/> In 2021, Mack said that 300 of the 3,000 sheriffs in the U.S. were members of the association.<ref name="boosted"/>
By 2023, the association was being led by Sam Bushman, who has been scrutinized for his affiliation with [[neo-Confederate]]s and [[white nationalist]]s, including a close friendship with radio host [[The Political Cesspool|James Edwards]].<ref name=bushman>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/constitutional-sheriffs-ceo-sam-bushman-ties-white-supremacists-1234855624/|title=He Parties With Neo-Confederates, Trashes MLK, and Leads the 'Constitutional Sheriffs'|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |date=17 October 2023 }}</ref>
==Ideology==
The movement has some ideological similarities with the self-styled [[patriot movement]] and [[sovereign citizen movement]], and some members of those movements also espouse "constitutional sheriff" ideology.<ref>Rothschild, Mike, [http://www.attn.com/stories/12111/sheriff-david-clarke-blasts-government-media-on-twitter What this Sheriff said on Twitter is part of a dangerous trend], Attn.com (Oct. 15, 2016).</ref><ref name=Tsai/> The "constitutional sheriff" or "county supremacy" movement itself arose from the [[Far-right politics|far-right]] [[Posse Comitatus (organization)|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,<ref name=Tsai/><ref name=Potok>Potok, Mark and Lenz, Ryan,  [https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/2016/line-sand ''Line in the Sand''], ''Intelligence Report'', Southern Poverty Law Center (Jun. 13, 2016).</ref> and was characterized by [[paramilitary]] figures and the promotion of [[conspiracy theories]].<ref name=Tsai/> Sheriffs are not mentioned in the U.S. Constitution.<ref>{{Cite news|date=2021-02-16|title=This Outspoken Sheriff Is Waging War on Cougars in Rural Washington|url=https://www.mensjournal.com/features/sheriff-waging-war-on-cougars-hound-hunting-violations-be-damned/|access-date=2021-07-06|website=Men's Journal|language=en-us}}</ref> The ideological basis of the sheriffs' movement is instead based on various incorrect historical and legal claims, relying on a pretense that the historic powers of the [[high sheriff]] of an English [[shire]] apply in the U.S. regardless of subsequent legal developments.<ref name=Tsai/>
The movement has attracted support from some landowners, [[county commission]]ers, 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."<ref name=Tsai/>
== Involvement in presidential elections ==
In the aftermath of the 2020 election, [[Barry County, Michigan]] Sheriff Dar Leaf, a member of the constitutional sheriffs movement, tried to seize voting machines in an effort to prove election fraud. He also took legal action in December 2020, attempting to stop local clerks from deleting election records. The chief judge of the federal court in [[Grand Rapids]] denied the request.<ref name="NBC">{{cite news |last1=Schapiro |first1=Rich |title=A 'constitutional sheriff' tried to seize voting machines in 2020. Officials are bracing for a repeat. |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/constitutional-sheriff-tried-seize-voting-machines-2020-officials-are-rcna177906 |access-date=3 November 2024 |work=NBC News |publisher=NBC News |date=3 November 2024 |language=en}}</ref>
In the run-up to the 2024 election the group has been training armed militias, building ties to [[Trump supporters]] and building “posses” to patrol polling stations.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Gilbert |first1=David |title=‘Take Back the States’: The Far-Right Sheriffs Ready to Disrupt the Election |url=https://www.wired.com/story/constitutional-sheriffs-disrupt-election/?utm_source=nl&utm_brand=wired&utm_mailing=WIR_Daily_102424&utm_campaign=aud-dev&utm_medium=email&utm_content=WIR_Daily_102424&bxid=5be9d86c3f92a40469e75648&cndid=16554313&hasha=aa8ab805992d7c0236bf11630048f573&hashb=f3c17dce69ee79aabdc8916216fe960bf9e88caf&hashc=f3cade83f73239e9abd4b8e26c5102e6f21c22d8543dafc8c2c9c1d8833b7a90&esrc=MARTECH_ORDERFORM&utm_term=WIR_Daily_Active |website=Wired |access-date=4 November 2024}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
* [http://cspoa.org/ Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association]
* [https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/04/30/the-renegade-sheriffs?CNDID=16554313&spMailingID=13377657&spUserID=MTMzMTc5NjQyNjgyS0&spJobID=1382123330&spReportId=MTM4MjEyMzMzMAS2 "The Renegade Sheriffs]
[[Category:Political organizations based in the United States]]
[[Category:Patriot movement]]
[[Category:Bundy standoff]]
[[Category:County sheriffs in the United States|+]]
[[Category:2011 establishments in the United States]]
[[Category: Conservative organizations in the United States]]