The Bristol County Jail in North Dartmouth, Massachusetts, is in an unprecedented crisis. The facility has seen a record high number of inmate suicides. The lawsuits are mounting as grieving families seek answers and accountability. For many, the money ultimately went to one man: Sheriff Thomas Hodgson, a tough law enforcement officer and the state’s longest-serving sheriff. “American Sheriff” exposes Hodgson’s apathetic response to the suicide epidemic and the aggressive tactics that made it possible.
There are more than 3,000 sheriffs in the United States, and in many cases they operate entirely autonomously. That was the case with Hodgson, who has been fanatical about enacting stricter rules for county inmates.
Abolishing privileges such as television, weightlifting or binge eating may seem innocuous to some, but other reforms that jeopardize basic human comfort and health have drawn ire from critics. Prisoners work far beyond capacity and live in overcrowded conditions. Many of them had to sleep on the floor. Even more outrageous is the treatment of the mentally ill. These prisoners are often denied medication and placed in solitary confinement, a punishment that only exacerbates their fragile mental state. Cries for help are often ignored.
What is happening in Bristol County is not anomalous. In a system without checks and balances, a culture of abuse and mismanagement developed in many communities across the country. The filmmakers experienced this firsthand during a trip to New Iberia, Louisiana. There, the sheriff and his deputies appear to go with complete impunity. According to many of the film’s most high-profile interviewees, their abuse was largely motivated by racial hatred, manifested in outbursts of extreme physical violence, harsh living conditions, and sadism designed to humiliate and demean .
Our elected law enforcement officers are not themselves above the law, yet many feel empowered to act as if they are above the law. By highlighting their wrongdoing, “America’s Sheriff” is encouraging eligible voters to implement some reforms of their own when they reach the ballot box.
Directed by: Lucy Kennedy
