Sheriff Rutherford talks about his future, crime, abortion and a 'culture of death'

jacksonville.com ^ | Jan 22, 2015 | Derek Gilliam

[Morgana]

Sheriff John Rutherford touched on a wide range of topics, including a potential run for a Florida House of Representatives seat in 2016, his thoughts about abortion and the fact that he no longer believes in the death penalty, in a meeting Thursday with a group of Times-Union reporters and editors.

Rutherford has been Jacksonville’s sheriff since 2003, but he’s term limited and will leave the Sheriff’s Office this summer — the place he’s worked starting in 1974. It’s a realization that’s just starting to hit home, he said. Especially as Thursday night was the last time he said he will watch a police graduation as the sheriff.

Since Rutherford became sheriff he said crime has decreased and the department is more efficient.

He pointed to 2011 as being the banner year for the Sheriff’s Office, when he said the actual number of crimes committed was lower than 40 years ago when the population was a fraction of what it is today.

Since that year as the number of officers funded by the city was cut the number of homicides has increased, he said.

Rutherford attributes the violence to a “culture of death” that he believes started with the 1973 Supreme Court case Roe vs. Wade that established a federal right to abortion.

“We no longer believe in the sanctity of life,” he said. “They almost glorify death. ... I don’t think these kids when they are killing each other understand they ain’t coming back. ... This whole culture of death we have created, it’s a major problem.

“Whether you kill a baby in the womb or a woman on First and Main, it’s the same thing,” he said. “There’s no respect for that life.”

[SWAMPSNIPER]

Amen.

[bravo whiskey]

The death penalty, when there is 100% certainty the individual committed the heinous act, is respect for life.