LA County Jails Timeline
The ACLU is working to expose and put an end to the unconstitutional conditions and ongoing climate of violence the nation’s largest jail system. Click on each date for more information.
April 14 - Expert's report documents conditions in Men's Central Jail
ACLU releases expert's report documenting how brutally overcrowded conditions cause or contribute to violence and serious mental illness in Los Angeles County's aging Men's Central Jail, and demands that county officials swiftly implement changes to prevent unnecessary deaths or serious injuries.
July 13 - ACLU responds to potential closing of 1,600-bed jail facility
Alarmed at the prospect of further overcrowding and violence in Los Angeles County's jails, the ACLU asks a judge to prevent the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department from closing a 1,600-bed jail facility without first preparing a detailed plan to cope with the potential for a serious worsening of conditions in other jails.
August 26 - ACLU Says No Way to high-tech ray gun
The ACLU and the ACLU of Southern California send a letter to Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca demanding that he not employ a high-tech ray gun built for the military against prisoners at the Los Angeles County Jail.- ACLU Calls On Los Angeles County Sheriff?s Officials To Abandon Plans To Use Military Heat Ray Device Against Jail Inmates (2010 press release)
- ACLU Letter To Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca Protesting Use Of Military Heat Ray Device Against L.A. County Jail Detainees (2010 letter)
- Don't Let the Military's Deadly 'Pain Ray' Machine Invade the L.A. County Jail (2010 blog)
September 9 - ACLU documents inhumane prison conditions in the L.A. County
After receiving more than 70 complaints over a five-month period in 2010 from prisoners who describe a climate of fear and brutality, the ACLU and the ACLU of Southern California release a disturbing new report on the Los Angeles County Jail that documents numerous, serious allegations of physical abuse and retaliation at the hands of sheriff's deputies.
May 4 - KTLA Reports on 'Gang' of Deputies
An LA TV station reports on a group of sheriff?s deputies who act like a street gang themselves, and have been linked to violence in and out of Men?s Central Jail.
September 28 - Civilian Eyewitnesses Detail Abuse
Please note that by playing this clip You Tube and Google will place a long-term cookie on your computer. Please see You Tube's privacy statement on their website and Google's privacy statement on theirs to learn more. To view the ACLU's privacy statement, click here.Several chaplain and other civilian eyewitnesses document brutal beatings of Los Angeles County Jail inmates by sheriff's deputies as part of an annual report on the county's jail system released by the ACLU.
- ACLU Report Documents Eyewitness Accounts of Brutality Against Los Angeles County Jail Inmates by Sheriff's Deputies (2011 press release)
- Report: Cruel and Usual Punishment ? How a Savage Gang of Deputies Controls L.A. County Jails (2011 report)
- ACLU Lens: Abuse in the Los Angeles County Jails (2011 blog post)
- ACLU Report Confirms Horrific Deputy-on-Inmate Brutality in LA Jails (video)
September 28 - Rachel Maddow highlights abuse
Rachel Maddow highlights ACLU report on abuse in LA County Jails
October 9 - Sheriff Baca says he will reexamine allegations of abuse
Sheriff Lee Baca announces a plan promising to reexamine allegations of abuse from the past and improve inmate safety in the future.December 27 - LA Times calls for real pressure on Sherriff Baca
LA Times calls on the new seven-member commission charged with investigating Los Angeles County's jails to put real pressure on Sherriff Lee Baca to improve conditions in the troubled facilities.- L.A. Times Calls for Jails Investigation to Turn Up the Heat (2011 blog post)
January 18 - ACLU files lawsuit against Sheriff Baca
On January 18, 2012, the ACLU and ACLU of Southern California filed a federal class action lawsuit charging Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca and his top command staff with condoning a longstanding, widespread pattern of violence by deputies against inmates in the Los Angeles County jails.
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