Resignation letter of Nowata County, Oklahoma sheriff Terry Barnett, after a judge ordered her to reopen an unsafe jail with near-lethal carbon monoxide and exposed wiring.

submitted by magnora7 from i.imgur.com

sorted by:
top
newinsightfulfun
you are viewing a single comment's thread.

view the rest of the comments →

[–]Tom_Bombadil 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (6 children)

She should not have resigned.

As an elected official she cannot be fired.

it's a much stronger statement to get arrested for non-compliance of an illegal court order. Quitting may have made the local news.

Getting arrested as a US elected sheriff and going to jail for disobeying illegal court orders would make international headlines.

[–]magnora7[S] 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

I agree, in theory that would've been even better. But in reality she might know that would get her killed or something, who knows. The culture around these types of organizations can be extremely questionable sometimes. A human life doesn't have a lot of value when your job is literally trafficking humans like cattle in to concrete cages. Removing sticking cog in the machine might not be out of the question.

I'm not saying it's 100% definitely like that, but I can maybe understand why she did what she did. It was still quite brave.

[–]Tom_Bombadil 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

It's unlikely that an internationally recognized recently-arrested protesting elected sheriff would be assassinated.

It's also impossible to know the exact circumstances. We'll never know what could have happened.

Is a safe bet to assume that that prison will house prisoners shortly, and for years to come.

[–]magnora7[S] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

It's unlikely that an internationally recognized recently-arrested protesting elected sheriff would be assassinated.

Seeing the reaction a mere resignation letter has caused, I wouldn't be so sure. But you're probably right.

Also maybe more importantly, they can just fire her immediately the literal instant she resists at all. There's no rights to employment lasting, it can be cut off immediately at any time for basically any reason. So by resigning it makes a bigger splash instead of being fired and then writing a letter about it.

[–]Tom_Bombadil 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

She's a sheriff. An elected official.

IIRC She cannot be fired by anyone; except by coroners in certain countys (for murder, etc.).

Sheriff's are unique elected positions in the US. Even a state's governor cannot give orders to a county sheriff. They are literally at the top tier of their command chain.

[–]Troll 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Let me know when you would've done that in her shoes.

[–]Tom_Bombadil 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I'll never go back to being a goon for the state.

Cause I'd never be a cop.
So, I'd never be elected as a sheriff.

She was elected. Who do you think would have arrested the sheriff to take hey to jail??? That's a big problem for the courts, as the cops are the supposed enforcers.

Who do you think the cops would've sided with??? Especially, given she refused to open the jail for their safety, and others.

Instead she resigned which cedes power to someone who want elected, and will probably take illegal orders from the judge.
Now she has no formal power; and the corporatist courts are in complete control.