Posted on 06/06/2008 7:26:32 AM PDT by SoFloFreeper
PHILADELPHIA -- Sheriff John Green has spent 37 years in law enforcement. But these days he's best known around town for the law he won't enforce.
With the economy soft and thousands of Philadelphians delinquent on their mortgages, Sheriff Green this spring refused to hold a court-ordered foreclosure auction. His move raised eyebrows on the bench and dropped jaws among lenders and their attorneys, who accuse him of shirking his duty to enforce legal contracts.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Put him in jail.
If the sheriff cannot bring himself to do his job, he should step down.
That’s how then-Sheriff (Jim) Traficant got his first taste of fame.
remove him from office
Jim Traficant did the same thing back when he was sheriff in Mahoning County, Ohio..I was there when he was doing it..
http://www.traficant.com/bio.htm
(SNIP)
Sheriff Traficant made national headlines by refusing to enact foreclosure orders on the homes of several unemployed workers. He openly defied a court order and spent three days in jail to protest the proceedings and draw attention to the plight of unemployed homeowners.
"It's not the sheriff's job to sell houses," says Deputy Sheriff's Officer Paris Washington, a veteran of the department and its head of training. "It's the sheriff's job to serve the people who elected him. Because he was elected by the people, he has to listen to the people. Aren't the people the law?"
Justifying the sheriff's behavior in ignoring the contract law, this "officer" says that since the "people" don't want the judge's rule enforced, the sheriff must ignore the judge and obey "the people".
I'm kind of betting these folks are Democrats.
didn’t know that...see post 7, a quote from the article.
How is it the sheriff’s job to decide which laws to enforce?
Something tells me that if this working-class hero tried this with property tax seizures, he’d be hauled off to jail instantly.
He not refusing to enforce the law, he is disobeying a direct court order signed by a judge.
I cannot believe that he will not do time for contempt.
And that should result in his being fired.
Except when gay marriage is involved. Then, what the people want doesn't matter.
I can hear him now.
“I’ll protect you from the big, bad bank with whom you entered into a legal contract with.”
Or immigration enforcement, or the right to self-defense, or building nuclear plants, etc ..... can't forget all that.
No, but it IS the sheriff's job to uphold the laws, including any relevant contract laws within his jurisdiction.
"It's the sheriff's job to serve the people who elected him. Because he was elected by the people, he has to listen to the people. Aren't the people the law?"
No, Mr. Washington, the LAW is the law. The people, through their duly elected legislatures, craft the law, but then the people themselves are BOUND by the law. It's that whole distinction between "rule of law" and "rule by men". Rule by the whim of "the people" is potentially just as corrupt and tyrannical as rule by a single despot.
So since most people don’t want to pay property taxes, will SHERIFF BOZO listen to them?
He’s probably getting ready to run for office. Likely congress.
How is this different?
He should be fired.
Just my opinion of course.
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