Did Sheriff Mike Scott break Florida electoral laws? There's got to be something wrong about speaking at a political rally while in full uniform and equipped with a sidearm, right? Oh, but Sheriff Mike Scott doesn't think so. Read further and let's just see about that...
(UPDATE: Read about the complaint that has been filed with federal officials.)
(Thanks to c for pointing out the federal investigation to me in the comments.)
Seeing uniformed peace officers participating in political rallies has always rankled me. There's something paramilitary and threatening about an armed officer, replete with the badges of office, telling a crowd who they should vote for. And it's even creepier when, as happened this week, an elected sheriff makes thinly veiled racial slurs against a presidential candidate because of his name.
But these general concerns are not the only worries when it comes to Lee County (Florida) Sheriff Mike Scott, who sneeringly referred to a sitting United States Senator as "Barack Hussein Obama," emphasizing what he thought to be the Senator's menacing-sounding middle name.
Maybe that's not just scary and weird. Maybe it's something else. Like illegal:
(From the Florida Statutes, chapter 104, "Election Code: Violations; Penalties"):
104.31 Political activities of state, county, and municipal officers and employees.--
(1) No officer or employee of the state, or of any county or municipality thereof, except as hereinafter exempted from provisions hereof, shall:
(a) Use his or her official authority or influence for the purpose of interfering with an election or a nomination of office or coercing or influencing another person's vote or affecting the result thereof.
snip
(2) An employee of the state or any political subdivision may not participate in any political campaign for an elective office while on duty.
Now of course, being the stalwart law enforcer that he is, Sheriff Scott insists that he wore his uniform during the Palin rally only because "[m]y practice has been to wear the uniform at all times and as is undisputed, I am on duty 24/7 and 365." If that's true, he was on duty when he spoke for Palin, right?
So what could be in store for Sheriff Scott? Well, a first-degree misdemeanor conviction:
Fla.Stat. section 104.31(3): Any person violating the provisions of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.
And the penalty for Quick-Draw McGraw? Well...
Fla.Stat. section 775.082(4): A person who has been convicted of a designated misdemeanor may be sentenced as follows:
(a) For a misdemeanor of the first degree, by a definite term of imprisonment not exceeding 1 year[.]
There's also a $1,000 fine, but I'm sure the McPalin campaign would help their boy out on that one.
This isn't just about a misdemeanor. It has to do with the balance of power between law enforcement and the people who do the voting. We read so much about other countries where a vote for the wrong candidate (or a vote at all) often results in a late-night visit from the authorities (or a militia) or the imposition of some charge or another. Allowing a uniformed sheriff to be a spokesperson for a political campaign in this manner is bad practice, and it's even worse when that sheriff uses the hateful tactics that were employed here.
Let's see if the Florida state officials step up and start an investigation on this matter. If they don't, Florida voters - and especially those in Fort Myers and nearby - should start taking a look at whether they want to put up with uniformed, armed police officers stirring up racially-tinged hatred against a presidential candidate.