In response to:
Are Sheriffs Above the Law? from the October 3, 2024 issue
To the Editors:
Linda Greenhouse, in her review of Jessica Pishko’s book on American sheriffs [“Are Sheriffs Above the Law?,” NYR, October 3], alleges that California’s 2011 realignment law was “a disastrous experiment” because inmate-on-inmate jail homicides increased by 46 percent compared to the seven years previous. Although this correctly recites the number published by ProPublica in its study of this issue, a closer look at their data shows that California county jail inmate-on-inmate homicides increased in only ten counties, while they were reduced or remained nonexistent in the remaining forty-six counties that have jails. The impressive reduction in Los Angeles jails, where such homicides fell by 58 percent from one seven-year period to the next, hints strongly that jail management, and not the law excluding certain nonviolent offenders from prison sentences, is to blame. Many California sheriffs were upset when the realignment law took effect, and predicted a resulting increase in crime overall, which did not materialize. The crime boom in ten of California’s county jails must be attributed not to the new law, but to ten county sheriffs.
Peter Fox
Stockton, California
