Wednesday, January 05, 2005
On this day:

And People From Georgia Make Fun of Alabamians?

I heard about this on Neal Boortz's show this morning.

JONESBORO, Ga., Jan. 4 (AP) - On his first day at work, the new sheriff of Clayton County called 27 employees into his office on Monday, fired them and had snipers stand guard on the roof as they were escorted out the door.

A judge on Tuesday ordered him to rehire the employees.

The sheriff, Victor Hill, 39, defended the firings and said he had the right to shake up the department in whatever way he felt necessary.

Sheriff Hill also said it was necessary to fire the workers the way he did, including taking some deputies home in vans normally used to transport prisoners because the deputies were barred from using county cars.

Sheriff Hill was among a spate of black candidates elected last year in the county, which was once dominated by rural whites. The fired employees included four of the highest-ranking officers, all of them white. Sheriff Hill told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that their replacements would be black.

Sheriff Hill's move provoked an angry reaction from the newly elected chairman of the county commission, Eldrin Bell, who is black. He called the move illegal and filed for the restraining order granted by the judge, Stephen Boswell...