The Worst Sheriffs of the Year
The Rest of the Worst
Lifetime Dis-Achievement Award
Sheriff Thomas Hodgson, Bristol County, Massachusetts
Sheriff Hodgson was appointed in 1997, won his first term in 1998, and has since won three consecutive re-elections. (Terms are 6 years in MA.) He was always a mini-tyrant, instituting chain gangs and charging people in the jail for room and board, haircuts, televisions, and probably even air (if he could find a way). He’s been one of Trump’s most stalwart surrogates, running Trump’s campaign in Massachusetts and offering people incarcerated in his jail for labor to build the “border wall.” Even though Sheriff Hodgson has NO patrol or policing duties, he prides himself on spotting immigration violations, even reporting his own church to Steven Miller for prominently displaying information on deportations. That wasn’t his only email to Mller. Sheriff Hodgson has been sending long emails – like ones your parents’ friends send you, rambling and all one sentence – to the super-racist since 2016. In one, he asked for ICE payments to go straight to the sheriffs, not the state or county. Miller’s responses are typically one word. When even Steven Miller is just not that into you...embarrassing doesn’t cut it.
Sheriff Hodgson has long been known for running the most dangerous jail in Massachusetts, which a disproportionately high number of suicides. As a result, he’s been sued repeatedly by families of those incarcerated there. The Attorney General opened an investigation into jail conditions in 2018. He reserves particularly harsh treatment for people held for ICE under 287g. Since the pandemic started, a judge said that Sheriff Hodgson was violating the 8th Amendment forbidding “cruel and unusual punishment” through the “deliberate indifference” to the health and safety of those in his care. In May, Sheriff Hodgson directed his deputies to gas and beat a group of men being held for ICE, leading to at least three people in the hospital. (The incident stemmed from Sheriff Hodgon’s mismanagement of coronavirus in the jail.) The Massachusetts AG’s office just released a report on the incident, calling the Sheriff’s use-of-force “excessive and disproportionate.”
Other Dis-Honorable Mentions
Sheriff Bill Waybourn, Tarrant County, Texas
You may remember Sheriff Waybourn from his October 2019 White House appearance where he called immigrants “drunks [who] will run over your children.” Sheriff Waybourn has been a stalwart proponent of “law-and-order,” maskless rallies for far-right candidates, and not caring very much about his actual job. (He did get coronavirus, but downplayed his symptoms and said he got better taking vitamins.)
He narrowly won his re-election this year, but still faces the problems he has caused. This includes a jail where 15 people have died this year alone, including a baby who was born on the floor of a jail cell and died 10 days later. (The mother was sent to a psychiatric hospital.) The cause of death is still undetermined for half of these people, and there’s been no good explanation as to why a woman gave birth on a hard concrete floor without anyone noticing.
Sheriff Mark Lamb, Pinal County, Arizona
Sheriff Lamb just won his second election in 2020 (by suing his competition out of the primary), but in his relatively short tenure, he’s managed to acquire quite a lot of notoriety, largely from his extensive social media presence and the meme-ability of his “American sheriff” persona. A regular feature on Live PD, Sheriff Lamb shills merchandise on his website including one that says “God, Guns and Freedom” and the text of the constitution (I think). This year, Sheriff Lamb has been a stalwart anti-masker and one of the chief architects of the “personal responsibility” theory of containing a pandemic.
As sheriff, Lamb brought back the “civilians’ posse,” partially as a response to protestors (although there were no violent protests in Pinal County). And the Arizona Republic investigated Sheriff Lamb’s “nonprofit” that involved some funny accounting. The tax filings are “largely blank,” reporter Andrew Oxford found, and about $18,000 was missing. When asked questions, Sheriff Lamb didn’t have any answers but he did protest like a cartoon sheriff: ““I didn’t benefit a dadgum bit.”
Dishonorable Ensemble
Florida Sheriff Association
The members of the Florida Sheriffs Association – the state association that represents all Florida sheriffs – can stand on their own. Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco, a relative newcomer to the gang, already made a name for himself by using surveillance technology to mark children as potential law enforcement targets and stalking people’s homes even if they haven’t committed a crime. And Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri made himself famous as “Sheriff of the Year,” with such popular ideas as giving teachers guns and using his law degree as an excuse not to arrest people.
As a group, however, the FSA is unparalleled in being the most sheriff-y of sheriff associations. They held their 2020 yearly meeting in person and gave each other coronavirus. The FSA also established the Florida Sheriffs Research Institute whose mission is to produce data that supports positions the sheriffs like. One report, for example, argues against sentencing reform.
Historical note: The FSA claims it was established in 1893. The first mention I find of the FSA was in 1909, when the FSA was reorganized after a period of inactivity in order to recommend legislation “to the benefit of the sheriffs of the state.” Their main concerns that year were pay raises, free transportation, and an increase in the per diem cost of holding a person prisoner.
Correction
Last week, I made a mistake. The inquest where LASD deputies pled the 5th was at the Andres Guardado hearing, not Dana Young. I apologize for the error, particularly to the families, friends, and advocates involved.
Thank you
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