Will Grigg?s Liberty Minute

April 9, 2012

Nineteenth century American jurist Lysander Spooner pointed out that while vices are sins, they aren?t necessarily crimes. That insight must be wedded to another by St. Augustine, who observed that a man has as many masters as he has vices. The case of Patrick Sullivan, formerly sheriff of Colorado?s Arapahoe County, illustrates how vicious public officials can enslave many others.

Sullivan, the National Sheriff Association?s Sheriff of the Year in 2001, was sentenced to 30 days in jail and two years? probation after pleading guilty to drug and prostitution charges.

Specifically, Sullivan admitted to using methamphetamine as leverage to obtain sexual favors from homosexual addicts. He made extensive use of the intelligence he had collected as sheriff to identify potential targets. More troubling still, as head of security for the Cherry Creek School District, Sullivan arranged to find a job for Sean Moss, a homosexual prostitute, porn star, and drug addict, who drowned in January 2011. Moss had listed Sullivan as an emergency contact in his medical records.

Under Colorado law, Sullivan?s offenses should have earned at least a year in prison. Instead, he was sent to serve a brief term in a jail bearing his name.

Let us take back the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.