La Plata County Sheriff Sean Smith did the right thing in declining to sign a letter to President Barack Obama urging him not to send any of the detainees now housed in Guantanamo Bay to federal prisons in Colorado. The letter is a political stunt probably meant either to embarrass Obama or to reinforce a warped view of the role of county sheriffs. Either way, Smith was wise not to get involved.
The letter, dated Nov. 9, was distributed to all 64 Colorado sheriffs. Forty-one signed it.
The issue with Guantanamo is complex and messy. In part, that stems from the fact that the characters imprisoned there are people who fit no clear definition. Well established international law governs the treatment and handling of prisoners of war. State and federal law dictates how criminals can be dealt with. The United States, however, has not clearly defined the Guantanamo prisoners as either.
Guantanamo itself is also problematic. A remnant of the Spanish-American War, it was a useful observation post and a convenient irritant both to the Castro regime and its Soviet sponsors during the Cold War. But as the Castros fade away, the U.S. base there serves mainly as a reminder of the United States’ colonial past and history of meddling in Latin American affairs. As soon as an acceptable government takes over in Cuba it should be given back.
In the meantime, Obama has recognized the hypocritical nature of imprisoning people in Guantanamo without trial or recognized status under international law. And he has promised to close that prison.
To do so, however, would require either releasing the prisoners kept there – some of whom are people no American wants loose – or bringing them into the U.S. legal system. And that would mean bringing them into the United States, probably to a federal prison such as the Supermax facility in Florence, Colorado.
That is what set the sheriffs off. They worry that transporting the detainees would pose a security risk and that housing them in Florence would make the facilities there targets for terrorists.
But Supermax prisons are designed and built for the express purpose of containing the worst of the worst. The one in Florence already holds the Boston marathon bomber, the “Underwear Bomber,” the “Shoe Bomber,” one of the conspirators behind the Sept. 11 attacks and the “mastermind” behind the 1993 attempt to blow up the World Trade Center. With them are Ted Kaczynski, the Unibomber; and Terry Nichols, who helped Timothy McVeigh kill 168 Americans by bombing the federal building in Oklahoma City.
Underlying all of this appears to be an odd notion about the function of county sheriffs. The idea that sheriffs somehow have a legislative or judicial role was reflected in a lawsuit filed by 55 Colorado sheriffs in 2013 over gun-control laws and another lawsuit filed this year over legal marijuana. And in this case some seem to think they can affect federal decisions.
Sheriffs are the top cops in their respective counties, but they have no authority over foreign policy, national defense, the war on terror or the federal legal system. And with that, they have no way to accurately assess the possible danger posed by bringing some of those held in Guantanamo to the Supermax in Florence.
The letter to Obama was about politics, not law enforcement or public safety. Sheriff Smith was right not to sign it.
