The ACLU Foundation of Southern California is the court ordered monitor of the conditions of confinement and medical services within all Los Angeles County jail facilities. The Jails Project also monitors conditions in the Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Office jails.

“Conditions” refers to beds, change of clothing, meals, gay/trans classification, outdoor recreation, showers, telephones, overcrowding, “fish” kits, commissary, protective custody, religious services, mail, allegations of violence and retaliation and other similar issues that may arise.

Through advocacy, public education and litigation, we work to ensure that a basic standard of care is provided to individuals who are incarcerated. We also work to decrease our community’s overreliance on mass incarceration by advocating for alternatives to incarceration and discharge planning to help reduce recidivism.

Facts

• The LA County jail system is the largest in the world
• There is an average of 17,000 individuals who are incarcerated in the LA County jails, of which about 2,000 are women
• 53% of the inmate population are pre-trial, those who are awaiting trial or sentencing

Cases, Legislation, Campaigns

All relevant litigation

• Rutherford v. Pitchess (1975): conditions of confinement
• Robertson v. Block (1982): protection of the rights of gay prisoners
• Johnson v. LA Sheriff’s Department (2008): ADA compliance for inmates with mobility impairments
• Rosas v. Baca (2012): elimination of systemic excessive use of force tactics on inmates
• Douglas v. Cooley (2012): halt unlawful practice of suppressing exculpatory evidence in criminal trials by the District Attorney and the LA Sheriff’s Department
• Mannings v. LA Sheriff’s Department (not filed) (2012): challenge policies that unfairly prevent Muslim inmates from attending group worship

Campaigns

• Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) compliance advocacy work with LASD, LAPD and SBSO (2016)
• Doula program (in progress)
• Lactation program (February 2016)
• LA Sheriff Department’s Gender Responsive Advisory Board (2015-Present)
• Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Office’s Community Corrections Input Group (2015-Present)
• Creation of a pregnant inmate module (December 2014)
• 100 Days (2014)
• LA Police Department’s Civilian Police Jail Advisory Board (2012-present)

Reports

• Orange County Jails (2017)
• Cruel and Unusual Punishment: How a Savage Gang of Deputies Controls LA County Jails (2011)
• Sheriff Baca’s Strike Force: Deputy Violence And Head Injuries Of Inmates In LA County Jails (2012)
• A Way Forward: Diverting People with Mental Illness from Inhumane and Expensive Jails into Community-Based Treatment That Work (2014)
• See more Jails reports

File a complaint

• File a complaint with the LASD.
• File a complaint with the ACLU.