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The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California released a report on Wednesday detailing life inside Los Angeles County Men’s Central Jail. Based on weekly visits, inmate complaints and interviews compiled over a one-year period between 2008 and 2009, the annual investigation by the organization alleges that overcrowding and unsanitary conditions continue to plague the largest jail in the county’s system. Contending that the constitutional rights of prisoners are being violated, the report’s most serious findings include inadequate care for the high percentage of detainees who are mentally ill, incidents of retaliation against prisoners who make complaints and a lack of transparency overall in the process of filing complaints. According to the ACLU, fear of retribution and lack of information sharing makes the extent of the abuses committed inside the Men’s Central Jail a difficult picture to complete. Inmates who have come forward to allege violence and serious injuries delivered at the hands of deputies have ended up with head wounds, stitches, black eyes and broken ribs. A spokesperson for the LA County Sheriff publicly responded to the report’s allegations calling them “absolutely false.” The civil liberties group stands by its findings and has called on Men’s Central Jail to improve conditions and lower its prison population through diversion programs as well as utilizing the option of drug and mental health treatment.

GUEST: Peter Eliasberg, Managing Attorney for the ACLU of Southern California

Find out more at www.aclu-sc.net.

Read the report at https://www.aclu-sc.org/releases/view/103024.