I am a lifelong Republican. I am considering running for Franklin County Sheriff as a Republican in one of the bluest counties in one of the bluest states. Even though we have not had a Republican candidate for sheriff since 1992, I believe it may be possible, because I think that most people know that I am fiscally conservative, socially progressive and committed to reasonable compromise and the rule of law. I think for myself and have no problem standing up to Republican leaders when they do the wrong thing.

To that end, the Trump administration seems to have a real problem with the rule of law. I believe Donald Trump’s lack of respect for due process in deporting undocumented foreign born criminal gang members without a hearing is unconscionable. I have direct experience as a 14-year Franklin County criminal defense attorney working primarily with indigent clients. I know the rule of law is not just for the rich, the popular or the politically connected, but also for the weak, the downtrodden and yes even for the most heinous criminals in our population.

Shipping people off to inhumane foreign prisons without a hearing may be an effective deterrent for illegal immigration, but it is not living up to the better angels of our nature. The current tech-bro approach to government seeks to “move fast and break things.” They believe it is better to try to do something different and fix it if you make a mistake. It is the opposite of due process. I believe in the same value of due process that led Massachusetts Republican jurist Oliver Wendell Holmes to say, “It is better for ten guilty men to go free, than one innocent man to be convicted.”

Checks and balances to executive power require the due process of law. I know it seems that no one cared about the rule of law when Joe Biden allowed millions of economic refugees to enter the country with the false suggestion that they were “asylum” seekers. That is frustrating. Even worse, these migrants were released without any meaningful background check or tracking under a parole policy clearly designed to skirt rather than respect the law. Still, I believe in the old adage “Two wrongs don’t make a right.” Ignoring the law now does not fix the problem, it creates others. I believe we need a surge of resources to conduct these hearings in an expeditious and meaningful way, but people, all people, are entitled to the due process of law under our Constitution.

This is one of the reasons I am very interested in being your sheriff. I opposed it when the leadership team at the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office colluded with the previous Trump Administration to hold ICE detainees in our House of Corrections. One reason I opposed this was because to accommodate that program, they had to ship every woman out of the jail to the Women’s Correctional Center in Chicopee. This made it harder for families to see Franklin County women. It made it harder for Franklin County women to have access to their attorneys. It drove up the cost of transportation of Franklin County women to court and delayed court proceedings.

I was the only lawyer in Franklin County to sue the Sheriff’s Office trying to force them to defend their authority to hold these ICE detainees. My client was a foreign national and successful businessman with a U.S, family. He had committed no Massachusetts crime and was arrested by ICE in Hartford Connecticut but placed in our jail. Rather than defend their authority under the law, one hour before my client was to appear before a judge in the Franklin County Superior Court, this Sheriff’s Office leadership team colluded with Trump’s ICE to transfer him to a facility in New Hampshire and then New Jersey a week later before deporting him. In my view this was done with the intent of thwarting the due process of law. Was it effective? Yes. With no client, I had no case. Was it wrong? Yes. In a criminal trial, when someone runs, we call that consciousness of guilt. I believe what the Sheriff’s Office leadership team did in moving my client out of this jurisdiction amounted to consciousness of guilt. It is wrong when Trump does not respect the rule of law, and it is just as wrong when it is done locally.

I strongly believe we need not only a president but also a sheriff who believes in the due process of law, transparency and checks and balances. That is why I am still listening to people about a potential run for Franklin County Sheriff. If I do run, I would run as the same lifelong Republican I have always been, but one who both respects the rule of law and who prioritizes serving the people of Franklin Country over colluding with the federal government at our expense. 

Isaac Mass is a lawyer and businessman in Greenfield.