By Stephen Winham
Those familiar with Tom Aswell’s work will know he is meticulous in his research – For proof, pick up a copy of his earlier book, Louisiana Rocks. In Louisiana’s Rogue Sheriffs: A Culture of Corruption (click HERE to view book cover), Aswell continues the diligence of his encyclopedic volume on rock music history and in his seminal book about our immediate past governor – Bobby Jindal: His Destiny and Obsession, coupling it with the courageous journalism reflected in his LouisianaVoice blog. Despite the seriousness nature of this book, he manages to work in a little humor and ends with humorous anecdotes from his personal experiences – as you may know, in another life he was a stand up comedian.
An honest evaluation of the power used and abused in our justice system requires courage – and focusing on sheriffs is particularly courageous.
The late Harry Lee—elected seven times as sheriff of Jefferson Parish once said, “Why would I want to be governor when I can be king?” [Wikipedia]
Aswell notes that sheriffs are uniquely powerful and have been so for centuries. In the United States they are essentially bound only by the state and U. S. constitutions and accountable only to the electorate of their jurisdictions. Sheriffs are not term-limited and generally spend many years in office. Look at your own parish sheriff and his predecessors and you will see there is very little turnover. And while state law provides minimum qualifications for deputy sheriffs, it does not do the same for the “high sheriffs,” so lack of law enforcement experience is not an impediment to election.
Those of us who grew up in Louisiana know that local governments are run by the “courthouse gang” of local elected officials and state politicians still believe they need their support to win elections. Without question, the most powerful and independent member of that group is the sheriff, who is also a member of the most powerful political lobbying group in the state, the Louisiana Sheriffs Association. Not only do sheriffs hold considerable sway with lawmakers, but governors are known to take their recommendations for certain appointments, including the heads of state police and the corrections system. Our current governor comes from a family of sheriffs.
Nineteenth century politician Lord Acton is best known for his statement, “Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Aswell sets out to see how true that statement is among Louisiana’s sheriffs. Louisiana has 64 criminal sheriffs, one in each parish (county). Aswell does not paint all our sheriffs with a broad brush, but he details things ranging from ignorance of the law through negligence and theft all the way to the worst brutality imaginable among 34 sheriffs’ offices and a handful of non-sheriff law enforcement agencies in our state. As he notes, the office of sheriff has existed as a powerful entity for many centuries here and abroad.
Beginning with the Kefauver Crime Commission in 1951, Aswell traces actions by some sheriffs across our state that would, in the absence of the right connections, net most of us time in a parish jail or a state or federal prison. He details human rights violations, nepotism, favoritism, discrimination, racism, sexism, organized crime connections, ignorance (for a price) of gambling and prostitution, theft of public property and other actions anybody should clearly see as wrong – things that, as Lord Acton’s statement implies, indicate that as power grows, moral senses tend to diminish.
I recommend this book to anybody seeking insight into our justice system, particularly the law enforcement side and specifically sheriffs. It represents years of work and documentation of facts and experts’ opinions. It is exhaustive and hard to absorb in one or two sittings. I recommend you read 3 – 5 chapters at a time to get the full effect.
It is sometimes hard to figure why people continue to re-elect some of the more corrupt of our sheriffs, but not hard to see how open opposition is limited by the power vested in the office. I have always said the best approach to our system of justice is to avoid it whenever possible and this book confirms that belief.
The book is well worth it’s $30 price. To pre-order your signed copy, you can click on the yellow button at the upper right. It looks like this:
When you do, please provide your name and mailing address by sending an email to:
If you don’t see the donate button, it’s probably because you opened an email link to the story (there have been issues with that). You may also order the book by sending a check for $30 to:
Tom Aswell, P.O. Box 922, Denham Springs, Louisiana 70727.
Louisiana Voice 
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