Joe Mathews | Contributed
If you want to fight the Trump administration, you might start by removing your county sheriff.
In California, the position of sheriff is the closest approximation to the lawless, authoritarian presidency Donald Trump is fashioning. Because sheriffs, in matters of jail and policing, do whatever they want. No government post produces more scandal and corruption. And the state constitution and state law provide no way to fire sheriffs engaged in wrongdoing.
Our unaccountable sheriffs are a headache for Californians in normal times. Now, with California under attack from our federal government, sheriffs have become an existential threat.
The Trump administration, all too aware of sheriffs’ untrammeled power, has been recruiting them as allies in its fight against California and its immigrant families. Shamefully, many sheriffs have openly expressed their desires to serve MAGA madness even when it means violating state law.
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, who is running for governor, may be Trump’s top elected ally in the state. Leaked emails show that in 2014 he was a member of the ultra-right group the Oath Keepers, who were key players in the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection. Since his election in 2018, his office has demonstrated incompetence and a lack of respect for civil rights. Deaths in Riverside jails have surged, drawing a state investigation.
Now Bianco is defending Trump’s mass deportation campaign and suggesting he will cooperate with the president when he can. What could go wrong?
Alas, Bianco is hardly the only sheriff embracing impunity. Amador County Sheriff Gary Redman recently said he would defy the state sanctuary law and work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to remove any immigrant in his jails he deems “a serious threat.” In a statement, he dared state officials to take action against him, and claimed that the state sanctuary law violated federal law. He’s wrong — the federal courts have upheld SB54.
Fresno County Sheriff John Zanoni hasn’t gone as far as Bianco or Redman yet, but he has also criticized the state sanctuary law. He disclosed recently that he has been speaking with other California sheriffs about how to help with Trump’s deportations.
Sheriff defiance is hardly limited to more conservative counties. In San Diego, Sheriff Kelly Martinez announced she would defy a new county ordinance advancing protections for immigrants. During the controversy, San Diego County Supervisor Nora Vargas abruptly resigned her office, just weeks after winning reelection, citing threats to her personal safety. (Martinez’s office maintains they have no record of Vargas reporting threats against her.)
Martinez, seeking to strike a balance, has pledged her commitment to the state’s sanctuary law, though immigration lawyers and media reports cast doubt on that.
Amid all this dark defiance by sheriffs, there is a ray of hope and accountability in San Mateo County.
There, Sheriff Christina Corpus faces troubles that have nothing to do with state sanctuary laws, which she has said she supports. Corpus has been consumed by a scandal that includes allegations that she retaliated against staff, made racist and homophobic comments, and had a romantic relationship with a subordinate. The county hired a retired judge to conduct an investigation, which found that Corpus’s leadership was based on “lies, secrecy, intimidation, retaliation, conflicts of interest, and abuses of authority,” and recommended a change in leadership.
Corpus, displaying typical sheriff behavior, defiantly rejected the report and refused to resign. But San Mateo County officials didn’t surrender. Instead, they drafted a historic ballot measure to grant the county supervisors the power to remove a sheriff. Over 80% of voters approved Measure A in a special election earlier this month.
This idea wasn’t new. In this century, county boards in San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Bernardino have convinced voters to give them power to remove sheriffs, but haven’t removed any. If San Mateo supervisors use that new power to fire Corpus, as expected, they would be the first board to do so in state history.
Voters in other counties would do well to adopt their own versions of Measure A, and county governments should not be afraid to use that power.
But there is an urgent need for more action. State Attorney General Rob Bonta should issue a legal opinion declaring that sheriffs and deputies who defy state law in immigration enforcement lose their “qualified immunity,” which protects government officials from being sued for their official conduct.
And if sheriffs participate in immigration enforcement that removes legal residents or U.S. citizens — which sometimes happens in immigration cases — they should be subject to kidnapping charges.
Beyond bringing accountability to individual sheriffs, Californians also must change the systems that give them power. The best way would be a constitutional amendment that makes sheriffs appointed positions, just like police chiefs, and makes clear that these law enforcement leaders can be fired when they break the law.
