Posted on 01/05/2005 6:26:16 AM PST by Old Mountain man
JONESBORO, Georgia (AP) -- On his first day on the job, the new sheriff called 27 employees into his office, stripped them of their badges, fired them, and had rooftop snipers stand guard as they were escorted out the door. The move Monday by Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill provoked an angry reaction and prompted a judge to order him to rehire the employees. "It appears ... that employees of the Sheriff were terminated without cause" and in violation of the county's civil service rules, Judge Stephen Boswell wrote in granting a 30-day restraining order. Hill, 39, defended the firings and said the new sheriff has the right to shake up the department in whatever way he feels necessary. He told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he fired the employees to "maintain the integrity of the department." "A lot of people are under the impression that the sheriff's office is under civil service laws," he said. "But my research shows the employees work at the pleasure of the sheriff." The firings had a racial overtone. Hill was among a spate of black candidates elected last year in the county once dominated by rural whites. The county seat was the setting for the fictional plantation Tara in "Gone With The Wind." The fired employees included four of the highest-ranking officers, all of them white. Hill told the newspaper their replacements would be black. Another of the newly elected black officials, Eldrin Bell, called the move illegal and filed for the restraining order granted by the judge. Bell is the new county commission chairman and former Atlanta police chief. Hill said the manner in which he fired the workers -- including taking some deputies home in vans normally used to transport prisoners because the deputies were barred from using county cars -- was
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
I suggest they get a lawyer. Even if there is no civil service protection they have rights.
Hiring or firing on the basis of race -- black OR white -- is extremely illegal.
No racism or hate crime here...move along...
Bump for later read.
I wonder how many well meaning socially liberal Repubs voted for this nut case. You know he got all the Dum votes. They are probably cheering this "payback". Talk about unconstitutional.
I don't know - sounds like he is just cleaning up a little fiefdom........
Racism???? Cant be. Blacks firing whites is good.
later read
I guess I must have missed this story last night on the MSM since it would be covered as such a open case of racism.
>>Another of the newly elected black officials, Eldrin Bell, called the move illegal and filed for the restraining order granted by the judge. Bell is the new county commission chairman and former Atlanta police chief.
This is the part of this story that got my attention.
In the DeKalb County case here, where the new sheriff was murdered by a conspiracy planned by the old crooked sheriff, there was lots of squirrelly stuff going on, that caused the new sheriff to make many dismissals on taking office. He was then murdered shortly after.
I've heard of nothing like this in Clayton County, that would make moves like this more understandable.
Anyone have any idea what's really going on here? Nutcase new sheriff?
Well, since "Tara Boulevard" is the most prominent street in Clayton County, the firings were justified.
< Hill told the newspaper their replacements would be black. >
Whether he has just cause or not, he can cover himself by saying they were fired for incompetence (yeah, sure), but he's going to have a hard time explaining the remark about replacements.
I remember when Bill O'Reilly got his shorts in a knot when white students at a Georgia High School decided to have their own all-white prom off of school grounds. He screamed and carried on, wondering why Gov. Perdue wasn't getting involved. I wonder if Ol' Bill will have the nerve to tackle this obviously racist act by this new black Sheriff.
This an outrage!
How on earth do such psychopaths get elected to public office?
I'm sure the ACLU is already on it.
Positioning snipers is the most incredible part of it. He obviously thought that his actions would trigger civil disorder.
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