Kerby Anderson

Earlier this month, Attorney General Jeff Sessions was criticized for using a term correctly and in the proper context. When he was speaking to the National Sheriffs’ Association, he reminded them that, “The office of sheriff is a crucial part of the Anglo-American heritage of law enforcement.” The outrage surfaced almost immediately because he used the term “Anglo-American.” Let me quote from one US Senator: “Do you know anyone who says ‘Anglo-American heritage’ in a sentence? What could possibly be the purpose of saying that other than to pit Americans against each other? For the chief law enforcement officer to use a dog whistle like that is appalling.” It’s hard to know what to make of this and many of the other comments on Twitter. Either these people are ignorant of our history, or more likely they jumped on the phrase to score more political points against President Trump and Attorney General Sessions. In either case, let me provide a little education. The word “sheriff” actually is a combination of the word “shire” and “reeve.” Sheriffs were important both in England (where much of law enforcement developed) and then in the United States. The Attorney General was quite proper in reminding the sheriffs gathered that they are part of the Anglo-American heritage of law enforcement. Charles Cooke did all of us a service by digging up multiple times when Senator Barack Obama and President Barack Obama talked about the Anglo-American legal system and the foundation of Anglo-American law. These, of course, were never controversial and illustrates that the criticism of Attorney General Sessions was merely trying to score political points. We might also remind these critics that they enjoy so many constitutional rights because of our Anglo-American heritage. That includes the freedom of speech, that gives them the freedom to say such stupid things.