American Civil Liberties Union

Today, ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero spoke with NPR's Michel Martin about last week's release of a Justice Department investigation excoriating the Puerto Rican police for civil rights violations, corruption and illegal conduct. Listen to it here, and learn more about the issue by checking out our Lens and hub page.

Just outside the town of Ponce, on Puerto Rico’s southern coast, is a prison for girls. Although the place is named “Center for Detention and Treatment” (Centro de Detención y Tratamiento Social), little by way of “treatment” goes on there. Instead, the Ponce facility looks, feels, and functions in many ways like an adult prison. The buildings are topped with coils of razor wire. The girls wear prison uniforms and sleep on thin mattresses over beds of cement. While most of the workers wear civilian clothes, there is a uniformed corps of enforcers, called “custody staff.” These heavies carry pepper spray and metal handcuffs, and are called in to get physical if a child misbehaves. Children’s contact with their families is severely limited, and a sign in the visiting room declares: “Kisses, caresses, or any demonstration of affection that could attract the attention of those present are forbidden.” (“No se permiten besos, caricias o cualquier demostración de afecta que pueda atraer la atención de los presentes”).