cover image Tin Star Tyrants: America's Crooked Sheriffs

Tin Star Tyrants: America's Crooked Sheriffs

Martin Yant. Prometheus Books, $24.95 (0pp) ISBN 978-0-87975-715-1

In this eye-opening expose, Yant ( Presumed Guilty ) reports on the seamier side of law enforcement under the jurisdiction of a sheriff, an autonomous position achieved by election at the polls. In Tennessee, for example, 16 sheriffs were convicted of corruption between 1981 and 1991. Elsewhere, sheriffs are being indicted and convicted for shaking down massage parlors, running drug rings and abusing prisoners, sexually and otherwise, according to Yant. Editor of the Columbus (Ohio) Free Press , he relates more than a dozen stories of lawbreaking law officers in, among other places, Starr County, Texas; St. Francis County, Ark.; and McCormick County, S.C.. In one lengthy section Yant recounts a story he broke in 1978, involving an Ohio sheriff who held office through intimidation for 14 years before being indicted for a variety of crimes. The book is a powerful reminder of the importance of a free press, even in a strong democracy. 30,000 first printing; $30,000 ad/promo. (Aug.)