Men's Central Jail

Men's Central Jail is a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department county jail for men in Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, United States. Built in 1963, it is one of the oldest county jails in California. The Men's Central Jail is located at 441 Bauchet St., Los Angeles 90012. The Men's Central Jail houses men who are awaiting trial or who have been convicted of crimes.

Men's Central Jail (MCJ)
LocationLos Angeles, California
Coordinates34.0590°N 118.2321°W / 34.0590; -118.2321
StatusOperational
Security classMinimum–Maximum
Capacity5,276
Population4,300[1]
Opened1963
Managed byLos Angeles County Sheriff's Department

The Men's Central Jail is considered one of the largest jails in the world.[2][3][4][5][1][6] In May 2013, along with the adjacent Twin Towers Correctional Facility, Men's Central Jail was ranked as one of the ten worst prisons in the United States, based on reporting in Mother Jones magazine.[7]

On July 7, 2020, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted 4–0 to pursue a plan to close the Men's Central Jail within 12 months.[8] In voting to eventually close the 57-year-old facility, county supervisors said they wanted to focus on community-based programs to treat mental health challenges of those entering and exiting the jail system administered by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. The vote came amid deliberate inmate reductions during outbreaks of COVID-19 and the Black Lives Matter movement protests over police violence and the killing of George Floyd.[9]

Construction and population

The construction of the Men's Central Jail was finished in 1963. The original building was designed to house 3,323 inmates.[10] In 1976, an addition was added to the structure at the cost of $35 million,[11] and by December 1990, inmate capacity was 5,276.[12]

Men's Central Jail has severe overcrowding, leading to problems such as inmates lacking shower facilities, very short recreation times out of their cells, wearing dirty clothes for up to a week, and inmates sleeping on floors for extended periods of time.[13][14][15] In March 1997, the inmate population was about 13,000,[16] and saw similarly high numbers by June 2015, where the inmate population was about 17,000[1] and increased to 1900 by August, where the legal limits on the jail population were only for 15,000 inmates.[14]

Notable inmates

Services

Men's Central Jail provides some services to its inmates. Inmates can attend self-help classes on domestic violence, alcohol abuse, and substance abuse. Religious services are provided to inmates in the wake of several ACLU lawsuits.[25][26] As of 2004, selected inmates can earn a GED while incarcerated.[27]

Violence and lawsuits

The ACLU has sued Men's Central Jail for major civil rights violations.[28][29][30][31][32] The United States Department of Justice has also sued the Men's Central Jail.[33][34][35][36]

In 2013, federal prosecutors charged 18 Sheriff's Deputies with excessive use of force.[37][38][39][40] In June 2015, Los Angeles Sheriff's Deputies were found guilty of beating a handcuffed man at the Men's Central Jail.[41][42][43][44]

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References
  1. Sewell, Abby (9 June 2015). "County supervisors vote to reconsider size of new Men's Central Jail". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  2. Medina, Jennifer (28 September 2011). "Report Details Wide Abuse in Los Angeles Jail System". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  3. Don Thompson, Associated Press. "Infographic: County jail populations across California dip after Prop 47 - 89.3 KPCC". Southern California Public Radio. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  4. Ucar, Ani (18 November 2014). "In the Gay Wing of L.A. Men's Central Jail, It's Not Shanks and Muggings But Hand-Sewn Gowns and Tears". LA Weekly. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  5. "Cell breakouts, attacks 'easy' in outdated Men's Central Jail". ABC7 Los Angeles. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  6. "At least one inmate stabbed in riot at Los Angeles jail". Reuters. 3 June 2015. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  7. James Ridgeway and Jean Casella (8 May 2013). "America's 10 Worst Prisons: LA County". Mother Jones. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  8. "LA County Votes To Initiate Plan To Close Men's Central Jail Within The Year". 2020-07-07. Retrieved 2020-07-10.
  9. "L.A. County seeks plan to close aging Men's Central Jail in a year". Los Angeles Times. 2020-07-08. Retrieved 2020-07-10.
  10. "LA's Men's Central Jail plagued by overcrowding, unsanitary conditions, violence". Southern California Public Radio. KPCC. 5 May 2010. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  11. Villacorte, Christina (28 August 2017). "Upkeep is proving costly as Men's Central Jail shows its age". Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  12. "L.A. COUNTY'S CENTRAL JAIL : Overcrowding and Age Burden Facility". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  13. "ACLU Criticizes Jail Overcrowding". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  14. Villacorte, Christina (28 August 2017). "Men's Central Jail overcrowding crisis could cost $1.7 billion to fix". Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  15. "ACLU calls Men's Central Jail a dungeon, seeks closure". Los Angeles Daily News. 15 April 2009. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  16. "ACLU Demands Meeting as Jail Crowding Soars". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  17. Breuer, Howard (17 March 2014). "Chris Brown Ordered to Remain in Jail". People. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  18. Susman, Gary (26 February 2003). "Suge Knight is released from jail". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  19. Timnick, Lois (10 November 1989). "Mistrial Declared in Bridges' Assault Case". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  20. LeDuff, Charlie (16 November 2002). "A Celebrity Home That's Not on the Star Maps". New York Times. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  21. Miller, Samantha (22 December 1997). "The Party's Over". People. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  22. LeDuff, Charlie (20 November 2002). "Room 7201: celebrity confinement California style". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  23. Rossi, Shorty (2012-01-10). Four Feet Tall and Rising. ISBN 9780307985897. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  24. YG arrested on robbery charges after Los Angeles home raid Marianne Garvey and Stella Chan, CNN, January 24, 2020
  25. Himes, Thomas (28 March 2014). "ACLU says Muslim inmates in L.A. jails not treated equally". Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  26. Chang, Cindy (26 July 2014). "Under new rules, Muslim inmates in L.A. County jails observe Ramadan". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  27. Ricci, James (7 April 2004). "Gay Jail Inmates Get Chance to Learn". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  28. "ACLU report: L.A.'s Men's Central Jail 'nightmarish'". Los Angeles Daily News. 29 August 2017. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  29. Leonard, Jack; Faturechi, Robert (19 January 2012). "L.A. County Sheriff's Department sued by ACLU". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  30. Stoltze, Frank. "ACLU: LA County jail guards perpetuate violence". Southern California Public Radio. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  31. Vogel, Chris (19 May 2011). "Men's County Jail Visitor Viciously Beaten by Guards". LA Weekly. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  32. "LA County Jails". American Civil Liberties Union. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  33. Southern California Public Radio. "Source: LA Sheriff agrees to new reforms at jails, settles civil DOJ lawsuit". Southern California Public Radio. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  34. Southern California Public Radio. "Los Angeles County's jails operating under unconstitutional conditions, says Justice Department". Southern California Public Radio. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  35. Faturechi, Robert (25 September 2011). "FBI probing reports of beatings in L.A. County jails". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  36. Solomon, Diana Beth (28 April 2015). "U.S. reaches anti-bias accord with Los Angeles County sheriff". Reuters. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  37. Robert Faturechi and Jack Leonard (9 December 2013). "18 Los Angeles sheriff's officials indicted, accused of abuse, obstruction". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  38. Medina, Jennifer (9 December 2013). "U.S. Charges 18 Sheriff's Officers in Inquiry Into Misconduct at Los Angeles Jails". The New York Times. Retrieved August 5, 2015.
  39. Phillips, Erica E. (2 July 2014). "Six L.A. Sheriff's Officers Found Guilty of Obstructing Justice". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  40. "18 L.A. County deputies charged in civil rights, corruption probe". FOX6Now. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  41. "L.A. sheriff's deputies, sergeant found guilty in jail beating". CBS News. Associated Press. June 24, 2015. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  42. Rubin, Joel (24 June 2015). "Three L.A. County Deputies Convicted in Beating of Jail Visitor". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  43. Rubin, Joel (17 June 2015). "Ex-deputy: L.A. County sheriff's deputies beat jail visitor, then lied". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  44. "Three Deputy Sheriffs Found Guilty of Federal Civil Rights Offense in Beating of Visitor at Downtown Los Angeles Jail". United States Department of Justice. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
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