As if the recall of its mayor wasn’t enough, Portsmouth citizens are having to deal with the ongoing situation of Portsmouth Sheriff Bill Watson, which continues to deteriorate. The city attorney has told council to consider suing him to get him to do his duties, the U.S. Marshals Service has pulled prisoners from the city’s jails, and at least three judges have complained about courthouse security. The problem for Watson is that even if all of this is related to budget cuts his office has suffered, his constant crying of “wolf” at every opportunity makes him less credible.
Already there are calls for his recall. Unfortunately, while Portsmouth could recall its mayor, the constitutional officers, of which the sheriff is one, cannot be recalled. There is no provision in the code to do so. There is, however, a removal provision in § 24.2-233. (An explanation of the process is in § 24.2-235.) Seems to me that if a suit is filed by Portsmouth council to get him to perform his duties, the “neglect of duty” test is met.
But hey – I’m no lawyer.
The cliche of turf wars erupting between law enforcement agencies within overlapping jurisdictions is as old as the hills (and as old as the cliche “old as the hills). Fighting to actually abdicate all of your responsibilities within the criminal justice system is a refreshing take on an tired theme; I applaud the writers and producers for their novel approach on the topic. I’m particularly impressed that they didn’t take the easy way out by going for the cheap punchline — during the scene where the United States Marshals arrived unexpectedly at the jail to reclaim all of their prisoners, I half expected the Sheriff Watson character to say something corny like “there’s no need to make a Federal case out of it!”
From the writing to the casting, from the directing to the editing, this was a much better movie than that other parody buddy-cop movie with Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan.
What’s that? This isn’t Variety‘s entertainment industry blog? You mean this is actually happening in real life?
Well in that case holy mother of God….
Posted by Silence Dogood | Friday, July 16, 2010, 12:07 pmHa!
Posted by vjp | Friday, July 16, 2010, 7:59 pm