Sore Loser

Here in the blogosphere (and in the subset that's the criminal defense blawgosphere, which is a truly ugly word), we talk a lot about abuses of power by law enforcement types.  You know, the shootings and beatings and arrests of folks for complaining about a speed trap or for having an untucked shirt or for using a tape recorder or for not being drunk or just because in Maricopa County or . . . you get the idea.

We talk about those outrages (which is what they are) because they're dramatic and big and often have video.

But there's the small stuff, too.  It's often petty, but it's real.  And like the big stuff (but mostly absent the violence for its own sake), it's an outgrowth of entitlement and petulance and power.

And so there's Sheriff Raymond Hamrick of Cleveland County, North Carolina.

Hamrick's in his last days as Sheriff.  Three weeks from today, December 6, Alan Norman takes over.

In the meantime, though, Norman collects unemployment insurance.  

See, Norman made the mistake of winning the primary. That's the primary in which Hamrick received a stunning 2 percent (yes, that's right, 2 percent) of the vote.  And then Norman won the general election.

Now, Hamrick doesn't say he fired Norman for being more popular.  (And drawing two percent of the vote in your own party's primary suggests that Hamrick is seriously lacking in the popularity department.)  Hamrick says he fired Norman for using Department cars to interview prospective employees of the new administration.  

Because, after all, hiring the staff isn't part of the job.  Oh, wait, yes it is.