Is the County Sheriff America’s Last Hope?
Arizona Sheriff Richard Mack on 10th Amendment Rights
By Timna Rutledge
TYLER, TEXAS - Retired Graham County, Arizona Sheriff Richard Mack, addressed the Tyler Tea Party group May 29, in Tyler’s Harvey Convention Center. He delivered a message that encouraged listeners to stand firm and not give up on issues such as repeal of the new national health care law, based on his own victory in the 1997 United States Supreme Court decision, Mack/Printz v. USA, which opposed The Brady Bill, and upheld states sovereignty as expressed in the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Quoting Justice Antonin G. Scalia, who delivered the opinion of the court in this case, Mack recited part of the decision, “The Federal Government may not compel the States to enact or administer a federal regulatory program.” This statement is what provides the backbone for Mack’s message, which he delivers to groups all over the country.
He asked the crowd, “Do you think our founding fathers said, ‘Now we’ve just gotten rid of King George III, let’s get together and hire the Obama’s and the Clinton’s to take care of the people’?” Then Mack boldly stated, “States should refuse to enforce laws which they deem unconstitutional (such as, national health care purchasing mandates).”
Mack testified of his reasons for filing the lawsuit against his own government, as a young Sheriff sworn to uphold the Constitution against foreign and domestic enemies. In the Foreword of his booklet “The Victory For State Sovreignty,” which details the Mack/Printz v. USA Supreme Court decision, Mack explained his actions thus, “On February 28, 1994… I filed a lawsuit in Federal District Court against the federal government (Clinton Administration) to stop the gun control and destruction of state sovereignty, associated with the Brady bill.”
He added that Sheriff Jay Printz from Ravalli County, Montana filed a similar suit. Five other sheriffs from Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Vermont, and Wyoming joined this action. Mack asked why seven sheriffs out of 3100 nationwide, would fight the “United States goliath Clinton administration.”
“To put it succinctly,” said the headstrong retired Sheriff, turned author, “the Brady bill was more gun control and federal intervention. Furthermore, the Brady bill was an unfunded and unconstitutional mandate accompanied with a threat to arrest us (Sheriffs) if we failed to comply.” Subsequently, Mack sought and obtained an injunction prohibiting the federal government from arresting him.
The Brady bill amended the Gun Control Act of 1968 and required all Chief Law Enforcement Officers to conduct background checks on all citizens purchasing handguns at local gun shops.
Federal District Judge John Roll actually addressed the oath Mack had taken as Sheriff when Roll stated, “Mack is thus forced to choose between keeping his oath or obeying the act, subjecting himself to possible sanctions.”
Expounding on Judge Roll’s words, Mack added that if the wolf comes from DC, the Mexican drug cartel, or anywhere else, the Sheriff has to keep his oath – against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Mack reminded the people, “The Sheriff works for you… no one else. He’s there to protect you.”
With a staunch patriotic air, Mack referred to the 3100 county Sheriffs nationwide, as the army to help keep the people free. He said that all public officials must take an oath to protect and defend the Constitution. “It’s treason not to keep the oath. If you don’t keep your oath, you’ve violated the trust of the people. If you don’t take your oath, you violate the supreme law of the land.”
Concerned about where America is headed, Mack said, “The federal government was never intended to run our public utilities, water, the airwaves, and health care.” He also criticized the public schools for not teaching accurate history and government, while he praised private and home schools that do teach accurately.
Mack encouraged each individual present, to learn how to safely use a firearm, so they can if need be, defend their families. He added, “We should absolutely train our kids to safely use firearms.”
Encouraging steadfastness within the Tea Party movement, Mack declared, “If the movement is to remain peaceful, our local Sheriffs and law enforcement will have to protect and defend the people from government’s unconstitutional mandates,” which he also referred to as “tyranny.”
He asked the question and then answered it, “Who enforces state sovereignty? The states, We, the People.”
Insisting that the federal government has no jurisdiction in our counties, Mack called on officials to take courage and keep their oaths, calling Sheriffs “Constitutional Guards.” He claimed, “The feds can’t commandeer police forces; but law enforcement can go along with it.”
“I pray for the day a Sheriff fires the next ‘shot heard around the world,’ and arrests an IRS agent,” declared Mack. He quoted President Ronald Reagan, “Our federal tax system is in short, utterly impossible, utterly unjust and completely counterproductive, [it] reeks with injustice, and is fundamentally un-American... it has earned a rebellion and it's time we rebelled."
In a private interview Mack said, “There is no greater threat to America than our federal government. The solution is state sovereignty,” which he equated to the 10th Amendment. Mack then begged the question, “If Texas is sovereign, then why are they bowing and kissing the hand of the king in Washington? To keep federal grant money?”
The 10th Amendment to the United States Constitution simply reads, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”
Apparently, Sheriff Mack isn’t the only one in America’s history with strong views about state sovereignty. Fourth President of the United States, James Madison said, “We can safely rely on the disposition of state legislatures to erect barriers against the encroachment of the national authority.”
