The Reign of Terror Ends at LA County Jails

[Sunlei]

12/16/2014

For many years there's been an entrenched culture of savage deputy-on-inmate violence Los Angeles County Jails – violence as extreme as anything we've seen in decades of investigating some of the most notorious jails and prisons in the nation. Beatings that left inmates with shattered bones, eye sockets, and teeth were commonplace. There was even a gang of deputies inside the jails, dubbed "The 3000 Boys," inked up with signature tattoos, who proved their allegiance to the brotherhood by beating up inmates. Inmates with serious mental illness – deputies called them "dings" – were prime targets for violent abuse.

The roller-coaster ride that led to today's settlement began in 2008 when we published the first of a series of reports documenting widespread, organized deputy abuse against inmates. Sheriff Leroy Baca's spokesmen denied everything. On another occasion the Department's Chief of Custody Operations insisted that there was an organized conspiracy of inmates who lied about deputies to get them in trouble.

In September 2011, the ACLU issued a report that the sheriff couldn't shrug off: "Cruel and Usual Punishment: How a Savage Gang of Deputies Controls LA County Jails." The report was backed up by more than 70 sworn statements by victims – and by highly credible civilian eyewitnesses, including jail chaplains, a movie producer, and the ACLU jails monitor.

The Citizens Commission findings galvanized public opinion. And over the next 18 months there was a series of new blows to the sheriff's department: federal civil rights probes, criminal indictments and convictions, and jury damages in the millions against sheriff's deputies in favor of their victims. A federal jury, in an unprecedented verdict, found Sheriff Baca himself personally liable for punitive damages to one of the victims. Baca announced his retirement shortly thereafter. With today's settlement, the county has agreed to submit to a consent decree, backed by the enforcement powers of a federal court, to ensure they don't return to the bad old days.

https://www.aclu.org/blog/prisoners-rights-criminal-law-reform/reign-terror-ends-la-county-jails

[BrotherIvan]

1. That is good work

It seems law enforcement everywhere has more than a few "bad apples." The first thing that needs to change is the recruiting, where their whole spiel is geared to attracting violent sociopaths. The second thing that needs to change is hiring practices and mental screening. The good old boys in blue at the top need to retire as well.

[procon]

2. If this kind of torture -- what else is it! -- is SOP in big jails

like LA where there is supposedly better regs and oversight, just imagine the unrestricted culture of abuse and terrorism that goes on in places like Fergusson. What kind of vicious, inhuman monsters would prey upon the mentally ill?

Increasingly, it seems that this kind "Mad Max" cruelty finds acceptance not just with the police, but clandestine government agencies, rightwing political parties, the military, and even religious organizations, who will step up to defend the indefensible. It concerns me that as a society, we seem to be devolving and outside of the very few stalwarts like the ACLU, there really is no organized resistance to right the course.

[Stardust]

3. "...no organized resistance to right the course." You certainly got that right. Many of us are

distressed with the situation, but feel powerless to do anything about it.

[SoCalDem]

5. It's because too many on the outside don't really care what happens to criminals

and anyone who gets locked up "must be guilty of something"..

[EvolveOrConvolve]

4. Often the only thing differentiating the jailers from the jailees

Is a criminal complaint.