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Understanding L.A. County Jails

The ACLU of Southern California is the court-ordered monitor of conditions and medical care within all Los Angeles County jail facilities. This Web site will provide you with important resources, information for filing a complaint, volunteering, and getting referrals to other organizations.

We work inside the county’s seven jails to ensure a basic standard of care is provided to inmates. No one should be denied medical services, be put at risk of disease, be forced to sleep on the floor or lack basic sanitation. Improving conditions helps improve the quality of life and safety for inmates, officers and staff within the jails.

• Jails at a Glance
• Men’s Central Jail
• Typical Living Conditions
• The ACLU’s Role

• Jails Project In Brief

Jails at a Glance

The Los Angeles County jail system is made up of seven facilities housing an estimated 18,000 to 19,000 inmates daily. Approximately 90 percent of inmates in Los Angeles County jails are awaiting trial and have not been convicted. The rest are people who have violated their parole or have been sentenced, some of whom are waiting to be transferred to state prison.

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Men’s Central Jail (MCJ)

• With 4,500 daily inmates, Men’s Central Jail is the largest in the United States. It was built more than 40 years ago and houses all security levels.

• A federal judge called the conditions in the jail “inconsistent with basic human values” and wrote that standards had “defaulted to the lowest permissible standard of care.” Click here to read the judge’s ruling (pdf).

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Typical Living Conditions

• Inmate cells are small spaces with one sink, one toilet, bunks and sometimes one payphone. Each cell commonly holds two or four inmates.
• Inmate dorms house more than 75 people each.
• Showers are granted at least every other day, and recreation once weekly for three hours.

• Meals are usually at 6 a.m., 10:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. Only one meal is hot, per the state’s minimum incarceration standards, known as Title 15 regulations. Click here to read the Title 15 regulations at the state’s Web site.

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ACLU Role

We monitor conditions in the jails to ensure they are in compliance with Title 15. This is a partial list of the types of common issues we address:

• Beds
• Change of clothing
• Food
• Meals
• Gay inmate classification
• Recreation
• Showers
• Telephone access
• Overcrowding
• Fish kits
• Store
• Protective custody
• Religious services
• Mail

• Deputy misconduct

The majority of inmate complaints we deal with fall under three general categories:

• Access to medical care
• Issues related to overcrowding

• Access to mental health services

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Jails Project In Brief

We advocate for inmates because everyone has the right to be treated with basic human dignity and be housed under safe, humane conditions as they are processed through the justice system.

• We often receive up to 40 voicemails daily and up to 30 letters weekly from inmates and family members describing problems in the jails.
• We visit jails facilities at least twice weekly to meet with inmates.
• We conduct walk-throughs of housing areas to talk with inmates at random and record complaints.
• We try to resolve as many problems as possible on-site.
• We compile reports to track complaint response time and to identify ongoing problems.
• We hold meetings with Sheriff’s Department staff to address policy issues and systemic problems.

• In extreme cases, we bring litigation.

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