The power of "constitutional sheriffs"

The Jefferson Exchange

Jessica Pishko is author of "The Highest Law in the Land"(Jessica Pishko and Penguin Random House Publishing / Jessica Pishko)

Hiding in plain sight is an enormous power of local control paid for by the taxpayers over which there is little control.

In her new book, "The Highest Law in the Land: How the Unchecked Power of Sheriffs Threatens Democracy," author Jessica Pishko reveals disturbing data and insightful information from her years of investigating the landscape of county sheriffs across America. The power of county sheriffs is steeped in history dating back to the antebellum era of slavery.

Today, sheriffs control the power to arrest and imprison while also maintaining control over the vast majority of county jails. Within the population of county sheriffs exists a significant resistance to the democratic principles of the nation ... and a loud whisper campaign of white Christian nationalism and unchecked power.

Pishko exposes the deep-rooted challenge to American democracy posed by groups of county sheriffs and their active allies and tacit supporters in the form of county control by armed law enforcement that align with the ideology of far-right extremists.

Pishko reveals an unsettling reality yet to be fully addressed or even discussed in national discourse and political narratives about groups of "constitutional sheriffs" who believe they are accountable only to the constitution and the people of their county. Pishko joins the Exchange and unlocks the door to national secrets about the looming threat to democracy posed by a segment of the population of county sheriffs.

ABOUT PISHKO: Jessica Pishko is a journalist and lawyer with a JD from Harvard Law School. She has been reporting on the criminal justice and legal system for a decade, with a focus on the political power of sheriffs since 2016. In addition to her newsletter "Posse Comitatus," her writings have been featured in The New York Times, Politico, Rolling Stone, The Atlantic and other major media. She has been awarded journalism fellowships from the Pulitzer Center and Type Investigations and was a 2022 New America Fellow.