Elected county law enforcement officials consider themselves the ultimate law enforcement authority in the U.S. They are the Constitutional Sheriffs.
A candidate for an United States Senate seat believes he reigns over every other law enforcement entity within the United States. As an Arizona sheriff, he believes the ultimate law enforcement authority within the borders of his county rest solely in his hands.
The public face of the movement remains relatively benign. The usual trigger words are plastered on related websites; flag, family, Christian, border, patriot, liberal, second amendment, etc. Imagery features flags, guns, tactical vests, and cowboy hats. Sheriffs wrap themselves with flags and weapons.
The movement itself has a dark past fueled by antigovernment radicalism filtered through lenses of white supremacy, antisemitism, and nationalism. It blossomed in the 1970s and 1980s through the west and midwest with the Posse Comitatus movement and related ideologies like the “sovereign citizen” ideology.
Origins of The Constitutional Sheriff
The Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 was a reaction to Civil War Reconstruction whereby elected officials in Congress wanting to ensure federal troops stayed out of the business of rejecting their proliferating Jim Crow laws.
Whoever, except in cases and under circumstances expressly authorized by the Constitution or Act of Congress, willfully uses any part of the Army or the Air Force as a posse comitatus or otherwise to execute the laws shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.
Posse Comitatus Act in its entirety – Amended to include Air Force in 1956
Antigovernment movements use the act to justify the premise of county government controlling all the land within the county. The county sheriff then, as the elected law enforcement official, has control over all law enforcement decisions within county borders.
An antigovernment, antisemitic, white supremacist Christian Identity “minister” William Potter Gale ran with the idea when he formed a “Posse Comitatus” militant group in the 1970s. Gale’s idea included a county citizen armed militia and a sheriff who could draft citizens into that force.
More recently, former Maricopa County (Arizona) sheriff Joe Arpaio famously had his “Sheriff’s Posse” that once included former actor Steven Seagal. Arpaio espoused the constitutional sheriff ideas. Arizona has 15 counties with eight sheriffs identified by the Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting as confirmed constitutional sheriffs.
Constitutional Sheriff Organizations
Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association (CSPOA) and Protect America Now (PAN) lead the way for the current Constitutional Sheriff movement. Both organizations have attracted the attention of watchdog groups like the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and the Anti-Defamation League for their relationships with radical white supremacy and antigovernment groups.
If the content of their websites, CSPOA is the more militant of the two groups.
Constitutional sheriffs came to the fore during the COVID pandemic by refusing to enforce local and state public health mandates. They added to their infamy with the 2020 election using their influence and megaphones to amplify widespread ballot fraud falsehoods. Gun control laws are unlikely to be enforced within a constitutional sheriff county.
One Arizona sheriff made his bones with the MAGA crowd with media appearances supporting “conservative” objections to community health restrictions. He’s now leveraging that MAGA star power with a run for a U.S. Senate seat.
Mark Lamb and Protect America Now (PAN)
The director of PAN is listed as Arizona Republican conductor Nathan Sproul. Despite his experience, it may be his brainchild but Pinal County, Arizona sheriff Mark Lamb is the front man.
As an aside, Sproul signed the most recent 990 form (2021) for PAN reporting $856,374 income with $964,331 spent. Deficit spending is now patriotic?
The PAN website text and imagery follows the right-wing blueprint falsely associated with being a patriotic American.
CSPOA, the other large constitutional sheriff group, is more overt with their antigovernment messaging. Their text and images follow the standard rules. Unlike CSPOA, PAN leadership includes more seasoned political operatives, so the PAN message is publicly toned down yet still clear.
TOGETHER WE WILL STAND STRONG AGAINST LAWLESSNESS
We support Sheriffs and law enforcement members that believe in God, Family and Freedom. They serve the people and they stand ready to protect our citizens.
Protect America Now homepage – December, 2023
Lamb Has All The Stage Props
Mark Lamb fits the sheriff mold like one of the “tactical” gloves he wears while cradling or firing his full-auto Sionics Weapons Systems M4 SBR for the cameras. A short barrel (that’s the “SBR”) machine gun (that’s the M4) is icing on the cake for Second Amendment purists.
Lamb’s fit and tall with well brushed and perhaps whitened choppers. A cowboy hat cocked to just the right angle to signal a touch more intimidation than approachability is on his head. A tactical vest with extra mags for his rifle and Glock 9mm with optical sights, jeans faded just right, and boots complete the look.
As Donald Trump probably noted when Lamb visited the White House in 2019, he’s a “central casting” sheriff. A note of MAGA irony? Lamb tested positive prior to another scheduled White House visit, so he was disinvited.
Lamb’s Tightly Groomed Fame
Lamb is glad to appear on Fox News, Newsmax, OAN, Sebastian Gorka, and other right leaning media outlets where he reliably follows the “conservative” tropes about the current President or the target issue of the moment. It’s a recipe for success in Republican politics, and Lamb is as media savvy as anyone. He self-published a book, offered a chance at winning an AR-15 with his name engraved on the receiver for a campaign donation, started a paid YouTube channel “American Sheriff Network” in 2021 (since sold to true crime network TruBlu), and even set up an “American Sheriff Foundation” 501(c)(3) charity. The Arizona Republic requested tax filings for the charity in March 2020, the same month Lamb departed the charity’s board. He remains featured on the charity’s website.
A sheriff with his own page on IMDB has done his homework on working the system. Lamb has 105 media hits listed from 2018 through 2023.
It all worked, presenting a carefully tweaked tough guy picture to Republicans proven to look past everything else in search of a person with that image. Cult of personality has a blueprint for success. Lamb follows it.
Constitutional Sheriffs Decide Laws to Enforce
The constitutional sheriffs are manifesting their power by refusing to enforce laws and mandates. Their ideology is they are THE legal authority in the United States. Accordingly, they have the power to determine the constitutionality of laws they are responsible for enforcing. They can refuse to enforce law any they believe to be unconstitutional. They profess they are the arbiters of what is constitutionally sound.
The Second Amendment features prominently in constitutional sheriff literature and lingo. They oppose, and say they won’t enforce, anything they consider an infringement on those rights. Most, if not all, state and federal gun laws fit that slot.
2020 Election Fraud Conspiracies
The unfounded and debunked voter fraud conspiracies provided fertile ground for toe self-identified constitutional sheriffs like Lamb. The thoroughly debunked yet widely quoted as MAGA fact “2000 Mules” film fueled interest in policing ballot drop boxes. Therefore, mail-in ballots are now targeted by right-wing people asbeing prone to fraud. because of this, CSPOA and PAN teamed with far-right group True the Vote intending to monitor future elections.
Having law enforcement people as partners to election lies can easily lead to voter intimidation. The Republican battle against mail-in ballots has continued with overwhelming media support. Events like ballot drop box “monitoring” by armed civilians in Arizona were tacitly approved by law enforcement. The stage is set for serious confrontations in future election seasons.
All Aboard The MAGA Train
Consider the duration of the 2020 Maricopa County “election audit” and losing candidate’s court actions now. Arizona sheriffs have a stage set for their brand of selective enforcement by the resulting churn of political chaos.
Mark Lamb appeared at a Trump Rally in Prescott, Arizona in July of 2022. He took the stage right after My Pillow guy Mike Lindell. After a moment of silence, Lamb followed with an applause line:
You know who else loved the rule of law and loves the rule of law?
Mark Lamb – Speaking at Trump rally July 22, 2022
Donald Trump!
This is a man who understands the importance of the rule of law in America!
Lamb continued by speaking about the coalition between his PAN organization and True the Vote. He claimed sheriffs would ensure they “…would not let happen what happened in 2020.” and added “We will not give an inch on the Second Amendment.” The hot buttons are the easiest to hit.
Just prior to quoting a Bible verse, another Lamb line said it all… “Guys, this is a battle of good and evil.”
Binary Thinking is Easy to Understand
The real danger of the constitutional sheriff movement isn’t increased enforcement of existing laws, it’s selective enforcement of laws they choose to interpret as unconstitutional.
Reducing anything as complex and important as the Constitution into a black and white matter plays well for the folks at rallies and in diners. It’s covered in very dense courses in advanced degree programs. The chance a county sheriff has that knowledge handy is near zero.
The purview of any sheriff does not include interpretation of the Constitution of the United States. That responsibility lies exclusively with the judicial system despite any legal theory the constitutional sheriffs put forth.
The hateful beliefs that spawned the constitutional sheriff movement should never be forgotten. It should be assumed proponents of the ideology also embrace the beliefs that built it. They will engage those beliefs when making law enforcement decisions.
These sheriffs are the ones destroying the rule of law, not the people they accuse of the same thing. None of them should be elected to higher positions and they should all be voted into retirement.
Research and Supporting Information
- Mark Lamb for Senate Committee filings – Federal Election Commission
- Constitutional Sheriffs Movement & Its Threat To Democracy – American Oversight
- Constitutional Sheriffs – Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting
- Inside the ‘constitutional sheriff’ movement – NPR
- CONSTITUTIONAL SHERIFFS – Southern Poverty Law Center
- Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association – Wikipedia
- Sovereign citizen movement – Wikipedia
- Why ‘constitutionalist sheriffs’ won’t enforce coronavirus restrictions – Washington Post
- The Posse Comitatus Act Explained – Brennan Center For Justice
- Col. William P. Gale, a Scary Apparition From the Desert – Huffington Post
- Jim Crow Laws – Fair Fight Initiative
- Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association – Arizona Mirror
- Right-wing U.S. sheriffs vow to probe 2020 voter-fraud claims – Reuters
- Charity …has $18,000 in Unaccounted Spending – AZCentral