“The Paid Jailer“
The Paid Jailer is a custom report that I researched and co-wrote for for Common Cause and partners. The report exposes millions of dollars in pay-for-play arrangements between law enforcement officials and contractors.
The report has been recognized for its rigor, breadth, and impact in election outcomes.
✓ National Investigation
✓ High Impact
A
Fast Facts
About the Paid Jailer Report
01
Research Problem
Quid pro quo corruption
Opaque pay-for-play arrangements whereby companies receive millions of dollars in lucrative jail contracts from the public office of the sheriff in return for campaign contributions.
02
Scope of Research
1,000s of records in 11 US states
Info collected from hundreds of FOIA requests, dozens of phone conversations with public employees, and thousands of pages of official data from government portals.
03
Multidisciplinary Methods
Quantitative & qualitative methods
Quantitative data from public records was augmented with qualitative data collected in interviews with dozens of policy professionals, legal experts, and community action activists.
04
Coalition Building
Advocacy across the Country
While crafting research, we organized constituents and stakeholders for brainstorming and information sharing; this energized a movement.
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Ongoing Research
The Work Continues
Original findings and methodological contributions of The Paid Jailer have provided inspiration and excitement to new and ongoing opportunities for research and advocacy.
06
Real-World Results
Electing New Represetation
Organizations such as Sheriffs Accountability Action have used the Paid Jailer report to rally action, which has led to progressive election results in several communities.
IMPACT: MEDIA
In the News
Selections from over 100 media outlets that produced coverage on The Paid Jailer
Transcript
What follows is a transcript of the Fair Fight Initiative Podcast excerpt above.
Linda Franks
Yeah. Okay. So back to the Paid Jailer, because it’s such an amazing tool that is going to help so many communities with just the very things that you just listed. Because I think nine out of 10 of them are wrapped around where is the money coming from? Where is the money going? Because I know here in Baton Rouge, we move the needle a little bit. We’re just simply asking the question, why do you need this tax? So it’s so very important.
I want you to speak a little bit about the people and how they went about getting this information. And how people in the communities can help to add to this report. Because there are a lot of people who are doing this work and they’ve got piles and piles of notes and not really understanding what powerful information they have. So speak about the construction of the report, how you guys kind of came together and then how people can link in and even add to make this a more comprehensive report.
Max Rose
Yeah. Well, this was amazing, amazing research, and I’m glad that I was not the one as much involved in the day-to-day of the research. Because we’ve had these sheriffs offices that are incredibly opaque, sheriffs aren’t required to tell us where tens of millions of dollars go. And it takes arduous public records to get that basic information. Campaign finance, where who gives sheriffs money is a little bit easier to find.
So what it required was more than a hundred public records requests to sheriffs across the country from Jon Henry, who was working for Common Cause. We got back roughly 48, 47, of those records requests. And then comparing that to campaign finance reports that look really different in different states. Some states make campaign finance reports available at the state level.
And then the other really important part was testing that data with our community leaders who know this stuff day-to-day. So we had a series of meetings including East Baton Rouge Parish Prison Reform Coalition in Bristol county for correctional justice and chapters of Common Cause and said, here’s what we’re finding, does that resonate? What’s different? What are we missing here about the story we’re telling? And all that led to this report.
But Jon and team at Common Cause did amazing arduous work. And part of what we’ve got to do here is make sure that information is more easily available to the public.
Paid Jailer Cited in Ongoing
Research & Impact
The Paid Jailer report inspired new research, activism, and public testimony into the tangled financial world of American Sheriffs
Sample Background Images of Research that Made the Paid Jailer Report
