Removing a Sheriff

For the first time in a generation, a North Carolina sheriff is facing a formal removal procedure. 

Maintaining faith in the justice system and protecting law enforcement were the themes of the four-day hearing held last week in Robbinsville to determine whether Graham County Sheriff Brad Hoxit — now suspended amid allegations of misconduct tied to an investigation of the ex-husband of his current wife — would be officially barred from returning to office.

District Attorney Ashley Hornsby Welch sought to prevent Hoxit from regaining his badge, arguing that preserving the integrity of the critical institution meant keeping a corrupt sheriff out of power, while Hoxit’s defense team claimed that a message must be sent that a sheriff can execute his duties without fear of political retribution..... 

The sheriff is the most powerful person in any county, and Welch asserted that in smaller counties (Graham County has about 8,000 residents), that power is even more outsized. She said Hoxit felt he could use his power for personal ends, even at the expense of others in the community. In her final words to Stetzer, she drove home her thesis. By removing Hoxit, the judge would maintain the public faith in the justice system so crucial to its functionality. In a case this rare and this important, the precedent set will echo well into the future.

“It’s not for his punishment,” Welch said. “It’s for protection, because if we don’t set an example, and we don’t stand up and say, ‘You can’t do this; you are not allowed to get away with this,’ then what are we doing? Why do we have a constitution?”

A decision on the removal -- which is not a civil nor a criminal matter, but resembles a trial and is held in a court under the auspices of a judge -- will not come for weeks. 

Georgia had a vast problem with its sheriffs for a long time; when I was young, the various district attorneys referred to the sheriffs as 'the Dixie Mafia.' It used to be that law enforcement from outside the county couldn't enter without the sheriff's permission, which effectively allowed them to forestall any investigations of their bad behavior. Holding them to account was the work of generational reforms that brought them under the power of the state, but that is just another level of (often even more corrupt) government; at best you have the two powers working against each other, creating a tension in which at least sometimes a space is created for accountability. 

This mechanism is different: private complaints of corruption have created a legal action, rather than one level of government trying to control and dominate another one. There is an intention to preserve a sense of fairness and due process, though such processes are so vanishingly rare as to be almost ineffective. Graham County is tiny and rural, but capable of making the process work. There are far worse corruptions in the big cities, especially in Mecklenburg County where the mega-city of Charlotte lies. Holding those officers to account seems beyond what anyone can do. 

Still, even if justice is too much to hope for, an occasional lapse in injustice is still to be valued.

No One Gets Left Behind

The great American war ethic was reasserted over the last few days. It is a matter of honor. As we know from the long reading of the EN last summer, that which is most worthy of honor is the most reliable guide to that which is best in life. 

As we know from reading Xenophon last winter, this is also the reason the Persians couldn't overrun the Ten Thousand with their hundreds of thousands. The Ten Thousand stood together, ready to fight and die together; the Persian army was there to make a show to please their masters. The Ten Thousand still got themselves into a war that they had to fight their way out of, for a long time over a great distance. Indeed, much of the same territory involved today; and some of the same actors, although the Kurds are on our side this time.

The American war ethic is sometimes misunderstood as risk aversion, as if the Americans could not stand to lose a single life; but in fact the ethic embraces risk, and entails the will risk hundreds of lives or to sacrifice planes and ships if need be to keep to the ethic. On the other hand it is sometimes portrayed as foolishness or an incapacity to judge the worth of expensive equipment against the cost of training a replacement. That is to put money ahead of honor, a decision that befits not warriors. 

The Great Feast of Easter

Happy Easter to you all. 

Mostly the great feast part is spiritual, but some take a lot of pleasure in physical feasting as well. We will be having ham and homemade bread, as well as hard cheese and baked eggs. It's not in my house that much of a physical feast, not like Christmas (or even Thanksgiving, which is only a physical feast). It's relatively simple but traditional food. 

By the way, if any of you have heard of the alleged Anglo-Saxon traditions of Ostara, mentioned once by the Venerable Bede as an early pagan goddess, here is a young lady who wants to disabuse everyone of that story. If you like myth debunking -- which I don't, always -- that's really her thing and you might enjoy her other videos.

James meditates on Judas, the man who made the day possible.