Originally Posted by
Eat My Gun
A police officer's oath of office generally encompasses four things
1. An oath to defend the US Constitution
2. An oath to defend the state constitution
3. An oath to uphold the law
4. An oath to "protect and serve"
Problems arise when any of these four aspects of the oath conflict with one another.
Remember the cops down south who were hosing down black folks, beating them, and running them away from polling places during the civil rights movement? They were upholding the law and enforcing the will of the majority, but certainly weren't abiding by the constitution.
The "duty to enforce the law" is nothing more than a cop out used by officers who shrink from their moral obligation NOT to enforce any laws that run contrary to fundamental constitutional principles.
Seat belt laws, helmet laws, drug laws, prostitution laws, many building codes, and even most aspects of domestic violence and family law clearly violate the constitution. Such laws should not be enforced even if majority of the populations supports them.