Anatomy of a Murder

p. 34

A veteran lawyer points out an obvious difficulty with respect to small-town sheriffs: “How in the name of the blessed saints can you expect a man to turn around and arrest the very people who elect him and keep him in office?  It’s contrary to human nature and our rare ‘good’ sheriffs are political freaks whose lot is swift and total political oblivion.  We don’t want good sheriffs.  How could we when the only qualification we ask for in a sheriff is that he be twenty-one?”