If You Shoot the Sheriff, You Must Kill Him

If You Shoot the Sheriff, You Must Kill Him

San Francisco City Hall's vast machinery went into overdrive after police questioned Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi about a Dec. 31 argument during which he bruised wife Eliana Lopez's right arm. A neighbor videotaped the bruise and later contacted the police. District Attorney George Gascon filed three misdemeanor charges against Mirkarimi for domestic violence battery of his wife, child endangerment (because the couple's son was present) and dissuading a witness (presumably Lopez). San Francisco truly is the city that knows how -- to overreact.

In March, Mirkarimi pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor charge of false imprisonment -- a plea bargain that...