If a law is unjust, a man is not only right to disobey it, he is obligated to do so. – Thomas Jefferson
I included Mr. Jefferson’s quote for a larger context, not because I believe that Illinois’ brand new assault gun ban is necessarily bad law. In fact, I’m all for it, a theory we’ll delve into more deeply on Thursday. That said, I have to laugh about how the publicly declared ban enforcement reticence on the part of at least 80 Illinois Sheriffs finally woke up those insipid suburban Tribune opinion columnists who typically cover the tough topics like:
- A Naperville Park District actress
- Egg prices
- Telling stories in bars
- A puppet festival
- A story about their mother, and my personal favorite
- Word nerd day
Apparently they’ve already cleaned up Aurora and Elgin to the point where there’s no stories of any substance left to cover.
Ah! But when those scurrilous sheriffs announced they wouldn’t invoke the assault gun ban, even the mile wide and inch thick Daily Herald penned a scathing editorial claiming their oath of office deprived them of the capacity to pick and choose the laws they’d prosecute.
By all of the that op-ed shrieking and howling you’d think that someone cancelled “Alaska Daily.”
But even though this new statute doesn’t begin to rise to the level of an immoral or unjust law, per the aforementioned president, county sheriff’s are human beings first and law enforcement officers second. The irony of course, is whenever a noted constable subjugates their humanity, those papers are always the first ones to pounce.
Clearly they can’t make that logical leap, but what the superficial DH and those opinion columnists are really saying is “I was only following orders” was a defense for the Southern sheriffs who so readily enforced Jim Crow laws. But’s it clearly isn’t a justification because as Martin Luther King astutely noted, “we have moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.”
And by “we” he meant all of us – including law enforcement officers – so let’s just dispense with this artificial sanctimony, shall we? Despite being pro ban, it would be utterly disingenuous for me to suddenly take that position after I encouraged so many county officials to ignore the illegal and destined-to-fail COVID mitigation edicts.
Putting all that newspaper self-righteousness aside, what most folks fail to realize is it’s impossible for any sheriff to apply every law, particularly this one.
And that starts with the reality that, while Illinois sheriffs certainly have the power to pursue criminals anywhere within their counties, they tend to avoid stepping on local police departments’ toes because it’s the kind of bad form that leads to pointless public feuds.
Since the vast majority of Collar Counties consist of urban areas, it renders those sheriff’s statutory objection mute. Put more simply, if it stands, this assault gun ban enforcement will ultimately fall to your local police department.
Even those more dominant downstate sheriffs couldn’t enforce this law if they wanted to because they lack the manpower to do so. The reasonably well-funded Kane County sheriff’s office has just six to eight deputies on the road covering 250 square miles of unincorporated area, so, they’re suddenly going to start knocking on assault gun owner’s doors?
Remember, Springfield’s singular skillset consists of concocting unfunded mandates – just ask your local school district. That means that, for better or worse, choosing which laws will be enforced always boils down to a matter of economics.
For example, I have to laugh whenever a pious candidate tells me they’ve alerted the gendarmes to someone stealing their yard signs. Because even if they have incontrovertible video evidence, the police won’t pursue the complaint because it ranks about 876th item on their long priority list.
Of all the people on the overpopulated planet, the press should be the first to grasp this fiscal reality.
But here’s what I don’t get. Why on god’s green earth would any self-respecting sheriff issue this kind of seemingly self-serving public proclamation? Why would they televise the revolution? All that does is put a huge progressive target on their foreheads which is NEVER a positive possibility in the overly woke Land of Lincoln.
Just ask DuPage County Sheriff James Mendrick who’s facing a Dem backlash of epic proportion. I actually feel kind of bad for him, and I’m me!
It certainly won’t help their reelection prospects, particularly in those increasingly Democratic Collar Counties. Fifty-eight percent of DuPage voters went for Biden? Say it ain’t so, Ronny! Even downstate sheriff’s will gain no political traction from this open rebellion. Does anyone really think Wayne County will ever elect a Democratic sheriff?
Not to mention that going public sets a terrible precedent, too. The next time I find myself in a courtroom (given past history it could be later today), I’m gonna look the judge squarely in the eye and say, “If the sheriff doesn’t have to obey the law, then neither do I.”
Most politicians seem to be immune to the notion, but more often than not, there’s a real value in keeping your mouth shut.
Of course, with a downstate judge putting the assault gun ban on hold, the argument is moot for now. But all that suburban Trib and DH editorial keening aside, it doesn’t change the truth that this edict will fall to municipal law enforcement and every last police department on the planet prioritizes the laws they enforce because fiscal realities leave them with no other choice.
Meanwhile, in a clear-cut case of being careful what you wish for, going forward, I’m going to encourage those Tribune columnists and Daily Herald op-ed folks to go back to writing about female high school wrestlers and lasagna recipes. Now that I’ve seen them try to tackle something of substance, I’m convinced we’d all be better off if they stick to the fluff.
