New Jersey Sheriff Sues the New Jersey Attorney General

 

We need to see more men like Sheriff Robert Nolan taking action against the injustice of creating sanctuary states. He’s suing the New Jersey AG, who’s defying federal law in order to turn New Jersey into a sanctuary state, and Nolan wants no part of it. So Sheriff Nolan and Cape May County’s Board of Chosen Freeholders are suing in federal court to challenge their AG’s directive, barring Nolan and his officers from cooperating with ICE.

The actions of Attorney General Grewel are blatantly political. He’s using worn-out rhetoric and misleading his constituents. He points out that the law enforcement officers are supposed to enforce state criminal offenses, and the federal government is supposed to handle immigration violations. And his stated concern is insulting to the intelligence of his own officers:

Although state, county, and local law enforcement officers should assist federal immigration authorities when required to do so by law, they should also be mindful that providing assistance above and beyond those requirements threatens to blur the distinctions between state and federal actors and between federal immigration law and state criminal law. It also risks undermining the trust we have built with the public. (italics are mine)

Now the AG agenda becomes clearer. He acts as if there will be some dreadful misunderstanding between the federal and the state officers if they help each other (which they are more than willing to do). And he wouldn’t want to frighten the illegal immigrants into refusing to report crimes because ICE is doing their job. Of course, everyone will be at risk (including the illegal aliens) when criminal illegal aliens are allowed to walk free.

Since Sheriff Nolan could be removed from overseeing the jail (although it’s unlikely he’d lose his elected job) if he didn’t comply with the AG’s directive, he’s trying to do a work-around:

Because of the directive, Nolan’s officers must manually sift through data instead of using the ICE database. This creates problems when ICE’s offices are closed and time is of the essence.

For state-to-state extraditions, prisoners can be held for 7 days. Under Grewal’s directive, local police can only detain a prisoner wanted by ICE until midnight on the day they’re processed, Nolan explained.

The irony and tragedy of this situation should not be overlooked:

AG Grewel is afraid that people will not report on crimes that haven’t yet happened, but he won’t protect his own citizens because he might upset those who may or may not be citizens.

He is making the Sheriff’s department’s job more difficult by forcing them to manually locate data which may delay or prohibit arrests.

He is discouraging one of his own Sheriff’s departments from helping federal law enforcement because of a political decision, thus putting the state officers, ICE officers and the citizenry at risk.

He has put Sheriff Nolan in the position of risking his own job and reputation in order for the Sheriff to try to stop the AG and to protect the citizenry, as he is called to do.

I’ll let Sheriff Nolan have the last word:

‘There’s evil forces among us trying to just have their way for political gain,’ Nolan said, describing the entire situation as ‘absurd madness.’ ‘I never thought I’d see the day that I can’t work with a fellow law enforcement officer,’ he said.

‘[Cape May County police] don’t go out into the community. We don’t go knocking on doors in the middle of the night and ripping people apart from their families. We don’t go out into the vineyards and pull people out of the fields or go up on the boardwalk and grab people off the amusement rides,’ Nolan said. He and his officers just want to continue checking arrested people’s names against ICE’s database to ensure U.S. laws are enforced as written.

Sounds pretty insidious, doesn’t it?

Published in Policing
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  1. Doug Watt Member
    Doug Watt
    @DougWatt

    The bigger question is can the AG make law or is it a function of the state legislature in New Jersey. If the state legislature has forbidden local law enforcement cooperation with ICE the Sheriff would be in a difficult position. If the state legislature has not forbidden cooperation with then has the AG any real authority over the Sheriff in this specific instance?

    • #31
  2. Jason Obermeyer Member
    Jason Obermeyer
    @JasonObermeyer

    Doug Watt (View Comment):

    The bigger question is can the AG make law or is it a function of the state legislature in New Jersey. If the state legislature has forbidden local law enforcement cooperation with ICE the Sheriff would be in a difficult position. If the state legislature has not forbidden cooperation with then has the AG any real authority over the Sheriff in this specific instance?

    The other possibility is that the legislature (or the state constitution) gave the AG discretion to act in this way. I’m not versed in New Jersey law, so I don’t know. But again, that’s a question for New Jersey’s own courts.

    • #32
  3. Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patrio… Member
    Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patrio…
    @ArizonaPatriot

    Skyler (View Comment):

    Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patrio… (View Comment):

    OK. Mockery of police is reprehensible, in my opinion.

    The reason for the stars is obvious. Police have quasi-military uniforms, including rank insignia. These make rank clear at a glance, so that when a bunch of cops are standing together, you can immediately tell who is in charge. Stars are commonly used for this purpose, as they are used to indicate rank among generals and admirals in the military. I think that the details vary from force to force.

    The uniforms are useful, too, so that you can immediately identify the cops in a mixed group of cops and civilians.

    Oh, that’s just too much.

    1. Mockery of police is all-American.
    2. Three stars is indeed quasi-military, which is the point of the mockery. A three-star general or admiral is a quite important person. I don’t think the police chief of a small area, or even a large city, comes close to that level.

    Remember, the military exists to protect the people and the Constitution. The police exist to control the people. The primary purpose of the police is to protect criminals from us.

    No, mockery of police is not all-American.  It is ungrateful and reprehensible, and you should be ashamed of yourself.  The police are legitimate authority, and deserve our respect unless shown to be corrupt.

    I assume that, since you’re here at Ricochet, you are not a traditional radical Leftist or Wokeist.  My deduction is that you must be a radical Libertarian, anarcho-capitalist type.  While I’m happy to have folks with this view in the general Conservative coalition, I find their views to be quite naive and unworkable.

    • #33
  4. Skyler Coolidge
    Skyler
    @Skyler

    Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patrio… (View Comment):
    No, mockery of police is not all-American. It is ungrateful and reprehensible, and you should be ashamed of yourself. The police are legitimate authority, and deserve our respect unless shown to be corrupt.

    We’re going to have to disagree about that.

    You know what’s a lot worse than mocking the police?  Cops that wrap themselves in the flag (mutilated with a blue stripe, of course) and want everyone else to think they are holy.

    • #34
  5. Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patrio… Member
    Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patrio…
    @ArizonaPatriot

    Skyler (View Comment):

    Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patrio… (View Comment):
    No, mockery of police is not all-American. It is ungrateful and reprehensible, and you should be ashamed of yourself. The police are legitimate authority, and deserve our respect unless shown to be corrupt.

    We’re going to have to disagree about that.

    You know what’s a lot worse than mocking the police? Cops that wrap themselves in the flag (mutilated with a blue stripe, of course) and want everyone else to think they are holy.

    Interesting.  So you think that the police are not legitimate authority?  So you think that police do not deserve our respect unless shown to be corrupt?

    I truly wonder what leads you to such conclusions.  [Deleted inappropriate comment – sorry.]

    • #35
  6. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patrio… (View Comment):

    Skyler (View Comment):

    Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patrio… (View Comment):
    No, mockery of police is not all-American. It is ungrateful and reprehensible, and you should be ashamed of yourself. The police are legitimate authority, and deserve our respect unless shown to be corrupt.

    We’re going to have to disagree about that.

    You know what’s a lot worse than mocking the police? Cops that wrap themselves in the flag (mutilated with a blue stripe, of course) and want everyone else to think they are holy.

    Interesting. So you think that the police are not legitimate authority? So you think that police do not deserve our respect unless shown to be corrupt?

    I truly wonder what leads you to such conclusions. [Deleted inappropriate comment – sorry.]

    I tried to send you a PM, @arizonapatriot, but I don’t seem to be able to do it. Skyler lives to push people’s buttons. Sometimes he is sensible and has good arguments, but I don’t think that’s the case here. I would cease and desist. And @skyler, please knock it off.

    • #36
  7. Jimmy Carter Member
    Jimmy Carter
    @JimmyCarter

    Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patrio… (View Comment):
    No, mockery of police is not all-American. It is ungrateful and reprehensible, and you should be ashamed of yourself. The police are legitimate authority, and deserve our respect unless shown to be corrupt.

    Au contraire, Counselor.

    May I present Exhibit A: The Keystone Kops

    Flat Foots have been made fun of since Their inception. It’s a fine American tradition.

    People hate cops. Even people who have never had anything to do with cops hate them. Of course, we count on them to keep order and to protect us when we need protecting, and we love them on television shows in which they have nerves of steel and hearts of gold, but in the abstract, as a nation, collectively we hate them.

    • #37
  8. Skyler Coolidge
    Skyler
    @Skyler

    Susan Quinn (View Comment):

    Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patrio… (View Comment):

    Skyler (View Comment):

    Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patrio… (View Comment):
    No, mockery of police is not all-American. It is ungrateful and reprehensible, and you should be ashamed of yourself. The police are legitimate authority, and deserve our respect unless shown to be corrupt.

    We’re going to have to disagree about that.

    You know what’s a lot worse than mocking the police? Cops that wrap themselves in the flag (mutilated with a blue stripe, of course) and want everyone else to think they are holy.

    Interesting. So you think that the police are not legitimate authority? So you think that police do not deserve our respect unless shown to be corrupt?

    I truly wonder what leads you to such conclusions. [Deleted inappropriate comment – sorry.]

    I tried to send you a PM, @arizonapatriot, but I don’t seem to be able to do it. Skyler lives to push people’s buttons. Sometimes he is sensible and has good arguments, but I don’t think that’s the case here. I would cease and desist. And @skyler, please knock it off.

    Well, if you find that I’ve violated a rule, I will.  

    I have put forth an honest opinion.  If someone doesn’t like that is not my fault.  If someone wants to have an emotional reaction to an honestly and deeply held opinion, that’s their problem.  

    The police being a lawful authority does not at all imply that they are due any amount of respect more than they deserve as individuals.  

    • #38
  9. CarolJoy, Above Top Secret Coolidge
    CarolJoy, Above Top Secret
    @CarolJoy

    Skyler (View Comment):

    Full Size Tabby (View Comment):

    Jason Obermeyer (View Comment):

    The question from the “Rule of Law” perspective starts with who gets to make the decision in question. For better or worse, the people of New Jersey have given that power to the current AG.

    Seems to assume facts not in evidence. It seems part of the issue might be whether the state Attorney General has the authority to issue the directive that he issued.

    My recollection is that the feds may not require the states to enforce their laws or take actions to support their policies. The feds can require certain behaviors as a condition for redistribution of the tax money taken from the state. If the state is wiling to tolerate that consequence, my understanding is that they are perfectly free to not follow a law requiring them to turn over inmates to ICE. I’m sure it’s going to be litigated again.

    So, I think the Sheriff is on very iffy ground. Or should I say, sher-iffy ground?

    @dougwatt

    We saw in Calif in Sept 2012, right before Obama’s re-election, that Obama’s Holder set both ICE and DEA agents against 35 households outside of Santa Rosa, Calif regarding the illegal growing of marijuana. The marijuana was possibly being legally grown in accordance with Calif’s state law about medical marijuana, but in violation of the fed Government holding marijuana to the controlled substance regulations under Category One scheduling.

    But in any event, the Federal government took these actions, and none of the 35 or more people arrested were able to reduce any criminal charges they were facing due to state laws. (IIRC.)

    I mention this case because right now, in Calif, a person is in violation of state law if they as an employee report their employer to ICE for having illegal aliens also in the employer’s workforce. And should ICE descend on this workplace, the employer is also in violation of state law if the employer cooperates with ICE.

    We who are citizens in these burgeoning sanctuary state situations need legal cases to come forward and straighten out which entity has which rights, when state and federal laws are in conflict with one another.

    ####

    • #39
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