LA County, ACLU reach agreement to improve jail conditions

Los Angeles County and the American Civil Liberties Union have settled a lawsuit focusing on longstanding problems at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility.

ACLU attorneys alleged that mentally ill detainees were shackled to chairs for days at a time at the Inmate Reception Center and others were crammed together, sleeping head-to-foot on concrete floors. The suit also detailed delays in processing and moving incarcerated people to permanent housing, and the provision of adequate medical and mental health care to people

in the IRC awaiting permanent housing. 

© Provided by CBS Los Angeles The Twin Towers Correctional Facility where celebrity heiress and actress Paris Hilton is being held under medical supervision in downtown Los Angeles. Hilton was ordered to return to court earlier today by Superior Court Judge Michael T. Sauer in Los Angeles. Hilton was released from jail on 07 June 2007 after serving three days of a 45-day sentence for a reckless driving probation violation. Ted Soqui/Corbis via Getty Images

The county agreed to a series of limits on how long those in custody may be held in various areas of the jail to ensure more humane treatment. During a four-hour hearing on the case in April, U.S. District Judge Dean Pregerson said he would consider issuing sanctions and fines this month against the county unless it addressed conditions at the center.

The settlement recognizes the county’s efforts to deal with “the root causes of overcrowding, delays, and deteriorating conditions in the IRC, and to ensure compliance” with previous court orders, according to documents filed Friday in Los Angeles federal court. 

As part of the county’s efforts, Sheriff Robert Luna has created a new supervisory position in the IRC filled by a sergeant on each of the three daily shifts to monitor compliance with the requirements set forth in the settlement 24/7, court papers show. 

In addition, the county has expanded the number of cleaning crews and sanitation checks in the IRC; increased the number of Correctional Health Services staff designated to provide mental health services in the IRC, including embedding additional psychiatric staff stationed in the IRC; hired 182 CHS employees for positions throughout the jails as of June 15; and assigned 215 recently-graduated deputies to fill existing vacancies in custody operations. 

The county has also moved to retrain staff on legal requirements for IRC conditions and wait times, decrease the jail population while balancing public safety concerns, and expand the capacity for community-based care for those who can be safely released or diverted from custody. 

As a result, the total jail population has dropped from 14,209 to 13,176 — about 7% — from Feb. 27 to June 9, the county said. 

Compounding the problems of an aged and decrepit jail, the mentally ill inmate population has skyrocketed in recent years, with half of those incarcerated similarly afflicted, Corene Kendrick, deputy director of the ACLU National Prison Project, told the court in April. 

“After almost five decades of an endless cycle of promises followed by excuses and failures and generations of class members enduring abysmal conditions, the time for talk is over,” lawyers wrote in the filing seeking a contempt hearing. 

In September, the court granted a permanent injunction designed to help move mentally ill inmates and others out of the inmate reception center and into secure housing within 24 hours.

The IRC, Pregerson said, is “one of the most complicated places on the planet.” 

The two sides must wait for a judge’s approval before finalizing the deal.