Sessions praises "Anglo-American" heritage of law enforcement.

[yardwork]

There are no words.

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/sessions-sheriff-anglo-american-heritage-policing-law-enforcement

Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Monday praised the “Anglo-American heritage of law enforcement” in a speech to the National Sheriffs’ Association.

“The office of sheriff is a critical part of the Anglo-American heritage of law enforcement,” Sessions said. “We must never erode this historic office.”

[dchill]

1. Jesus.

[yardwork]

2. I know, right?

It's almost beyond belief.

[left-of-center2012]

3. Memories of the 50's and 60's

[dchill]

4. Bad memories for us...

Sweet memories for Jeffy. What an emetic he is!

[yardwork]

7. It's horrifying.

[Lifelong Protester]

5. Hoods are definitely off now.

[yardwork]

6. This is blatant and unapologetic.

[Lucinda]

8. FFS

[yardwork]

11. Exactly.

[blogslut]

9. kiiiiiiick

[yardwork]

10. Thanks. Everybody needs to see this.

For all that's good and decent, VOTE. Get these Nazis out of power before it's too late.

[a kennedy]

12. WTF.

It’s not even coded.....it’s BLATANT AND DAMN IT, IT’S RACIST.

[yardwork]

13. Unapologetically racist.

[FarCenter]

14. I think he meant as in the "Sheriff of Nottingham"?

[nolabear]

18. The one who hid behind a badge and hated the poor?

Pretty much says it.

[jberryhill]

15. The significance of this statement is largely missed here

Sovereign citizens and their ilk have a particular fetish around the institution of sheriffs.

There is a breed of self-styled “constitutional sheriffs” which swim in this particular pond.

[ProudLib72]

16. So is this an attempt to undermine Arpaio's conviction?

Or a set up for some upcoming heinous acts?


Or both?

[jberryhill]

30. Try this

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitutional_Sheriffs_and_Peace_Officers_Association

An article by the Intelligence Report of the Southern Poverty Law Center states that "... the real root of the 'county supremacy' movement that has been explicitly embraced by the CSPOA is the Posse Comitatus, a racist and anti-Semitic group of the 1970s and 1980s that also defined the county sheriff as the highest 'legitimate' law enforcement authority in the country. . . ."

[yardwork]

21. The significance is not missed at all.

[Spider Jerusalem]

17. The office of sheriff originated in England.

The word itself comes from "shire-reeve"; the sheriff (as in "the Sheriff of Nottingham", for instance) was an officer charged with keeping the king's peace in the county. The 13 colonies were colonies of Britain. They imported English law and customs with them (including common law, and the office of sheriff). Referring to it as "Anglo-American" is entirely correct, and not some sort of weird dog-whistle white supremacy. It's really embarrassing to see how ignorant some people are.

[yardwork]

20. Oh FFS.

[Spider Jerusalem]

22. "Oh, FFS" is basically my reaction to people calling "Anglo-American" racist

because it isn't, it refers to the legal tradition the US inherited from England. Do I think Sessions is racist? Yes. Do I think this particular comment is reflective of that racism? Not at all. (Protip: "Anglo-American" doesn't mean "Anglo" in the sense of "not Hispanic".)

[yardwork]

23. You're not fooling anybody. You're not clever.

[Spider Jerusalem]

24. Speaking of "not clever"...

try going to Google and typing in "Anglo-American legal tradition", in quotes. See what you get back. I'll help; things like this, and this, and this, and this. What's "not clever" is seizing on a completely erroneous interpretation of a phrase and then claiming it's racist. Not only is that not clever, it is, frankly, stupid. It's ignorant, and it makes our side look bad. If that's what you want, by all means, continue.

[Shrek]

25. President Obama used the same formulation

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2008/09/obama-to-palin-dont-mock-the-c.html

[hlthe2b]

27. Historically correct yes, but I do not believe for one minute that Sessions was not trying to

get a point across--one that is anything but benign and merely "historical"...

[LanternWaste]

32. The position was not invented in England. We merely derive a common name

The position was not invented in England. We merely derive a common name from English roots. The position of reeve (not shire reeve), also 'land steward' was simply a local official charged with the responsibilities of the crown.

That same position, under different names, goes much further back and much further abroad than England. Ancient Persia's 'Managerial and Magistrate Laws' charged a local of note in each village to 'see to the your Lord's estate, its bondage and its chattel,' and to enforce all royal laws in regards to the same.
(Source: Accounts of Persian "Despotism" and Law, c. 430-300 BCE From Herodotus)

Meaning, the positions are the same. Meaning England didn't "invent" it. Meaning your 'narrative' fails. As you yourself said: " frankly, stupid. It's ignorant, and it makes our side look bad. If that's what you want, by all means, continue..."

[Spider Jerusalem]

33. If you can show any evidence that the American office of "sheriff" came from anywhere BUT England...

then do so (which you can't do, because it didn't, and your argument, if you have one, is an absurdity).

[LanternWaste]

34. Sharing a common name is not equivalent to sharing a common use.

Sharing a common name is not equivalent to sharing a common use. Pretending otherwise simply to maintain a pretenses of cleverness is absurd as well.

Try: A History of the Achaemenid Empire, by Matt Waters or Ancient Persia by Josef Wiesehofer. Both refer to and expound on the office of 'lo'cha', a local villager of note, chosen by the nobility, to enforce the king's will on a local level. Precisely what the English reeve did.

[Spider Jerusalem]

35. "Pretence of cleverness" pretty much describes everything you're saying.

And it's quite frankly absurd and even idiotic to presume that the existence of a legal office of "sheriff" in England from pre-Norman times, and then in British North American colonies from the 1600's, and then in the later United States, derives from anything *but* the English tradition.

[Cha]

19. Fuck off you inferior racist

Piece of Shite.

[airmid]

26. Because white folks are the only one's making laws...ffs. Can someone change the channel. I am

getting tired of the Twilight Zone.

[Demsrule86]

28. He is a racist piece of shit.

[dem4decades]

29. Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner learned first hand of "Anglo-American" heritage law enforcement.

[HopeAgain]

31. The term is correct, I'm afraid.

We do have a legal system based upon English Common Law (except in Louisiana which is based in large part on Napoleanic Code). I have heard this term many times before, the "anglo" referring to England the country, not the ethnicity. That being said, I don't know why reference to that term for sherrifs (agents of a monarch) is helpful to appreciate elected law enforcement.

But it does harken back to a less inclusive time in America, and Sessions is otherwise a bigotted ignoramus.

[yardwork]

36. Sessions' meaning is crystal clear in context.