Liberty Movement activists and the Florida Sheriff’s ended the Sunday afternoon of July 31,2011 with at best an agree to disagree opinion of taking action to end TSA groping of law abiding airline passengers. We suggest that since the Sheriffs will be standing for re-election in 2012, this issue be kept alive and in the forefront of Liberty Movement issues regarding civil liberties.
For now, calls and letters to your county sheriff taking exception to their Association’s statement should go out immediately. Make this an election issue. Let’s get Florida’s Sheriff’s on the record that they believe in the unquestioned authority of the general government and will not protect their constituents from that government. Let’s not compound this poor attitude by awarding them their star for another four years, or worse yet, sending them to state or federal congressional seats.
It might help too to determine how much your county Sheriff’s department received in general government grants towards their federalization and militarization. The money trail is always a dependable traceline for determining loyalties.
“About 50 activists gathered Sunday outside the Ocean Center and Daytona Hilton Oceanfront Resort, where the Florida Sheriffs Association Convention was getting under way. The protesters want the sheriffs to enforce state laws against sexual molestation when TSA agents perform patdowns that are too intrusive……
“… Adrian Wyllie, the Libertarian Party chairman, said the U.S. Constitution’s Fourth Amendment guarantees all Americans the right to be secure against unreasonable government searches…”It’s unacceptable the federal government is violating the Bill of Rights,” he said.
Andrew Nappi, coordinator of the Florida Tenth Amendment Center, said the intrusions on flight travelers are akin to some of the most reviled criminal acts in American society.”
“By MARK HARPER, Staff Writer, Daytona News Journal
Read The Entire Article At: http://www.news-journalonline.com/news/local/east-volusia/2011/08/01/protest-held-outside-sheriffs-convention.html
Official Response From the Florida Sheriff’s Association:
July 31, 2011MEDIA STATEMENT
……
The Florida Sheriffs Association respects and values an organization’s right to rally about issues that are important to them as a way to draw attention to their issue and seek support for their cause.After speaking with the party’s leaders we understand the reason for today’s Florida Libertarian Party rally in an effort to urge Florida Sheriffs to arrest Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees who search passengers at checkpoints in airports across the nation for violating the fourth amendment.However, it is our belief that TSA officers who conduct these searches are simply performing their duties as defined by the federal government and are not violating the federal or state constitution. It is the job of Florida Sheriffs to sever and protect our citizens, not to arrest citizens who are attempting to do the same.While we understand the frustration the group has with the current system, we do not believe this matter should be handled in the criminal court and Sheriffs will not arrest TSA officers who are performing their jobs as outlined by TSA and authorized by Congress.Federal courts have held that, while the Supremacy Clause in the US Constitution allows Congress to enact legislation free of any impediment or interference by state law, it jointly serves to prevent state law or state law officials from interfering with or otherwise impeding federal officers as the perform their lawful duties.
A thorough legal analysis supports our position that Florida’s Sheriffs cannot arrest the federal TSA officers who are executing their duties as prescribed by federal law because this would be impeding the federal officers from performing their lawful duties. Simply put, the Sheriffs have no authority to arrest the TSA officers who are performing their assigned duties.
As Sheriffs we are on the frontline everyday and we have and will continue to take appropriate law enforcement action to bring those who violate our laws to justice. This is why we have aggressively targeted pill mills, meth labs, Internet sexual predators and other criminal elements that would life an property if left unchecked. As Sheriffs we know this is the work that is truly keeping the citizens in the state of Florida safe from danger and we pledge to continue this work with the support of local citizens and our law enforcement partners.
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