(ACLU) Report Details Wide Abuse in Los Angeles Jail System

[alp227]

Source: The New York Times

LOS ANGELES — One inmate said he was forced to walk down a hallway naked after sheriff’s deputies accused him of stealing a piece of mail. They taunted him in Spanish, calling him a derogatory name for homosexuals.

Another former inmate said that after he protested that guards were harassing a mentally ill prisoner, the same deputies took him into another room, slammed his head into a wall and repeatedly punched him in the chest.

And a chaplain said he saw deputies punching an inmate until he collapsed to the ground. They then began kicking the apparently unconscious man’s head and body.

The examples are just a fraction of dozens of detailed allegations of abuse in Los Angeles County’s Men’s Central Jail and Twin Towers, according to a report that the American Civil Liberties Union is expected to file in Federal District Court here on Wednesday. The Los Angeles County jail system, the nation’s largest, is also the nation’s most troubled, according to lawyers, advocates and former law enforcement officials.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/28/us/aclu-suit-details-wide-abuse-in-los-angeles-jail-system.html?pagewanted=all

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Meanwhile, Hollywood celebrities who go to jail either get protective custody or have an easier time posting bail! Heck, Lindsay Lohan straight up got an early release last year for a DUI probation violation.

[No Elephants]

1. LAPD?

[Downwinder]

2. Sheriff

[duhneece]

3. We cut funding for mental health services but increased laws against self-medicating

We introduced torture as an American value (where it spreads to law enforcement and corrections).

We need to end the War on Drugs, treat people with mental illness (including substance use and abuse) from a public health perspective in addition to our judicial options.

[Plucketeer]

4. Agreed

The STUPID "War On Drugs" needs to end NOW. We need to spend a fraction of the costs on transporting the stuff here and handing it out for FREE to those dumb enough to want it. I can go along with protecting folks from A LOT of things - but not from themselves.

[duhneece]

5. Many who self=medicate are soldiers, survivors of sexual assault

Drugs help them feel better or not feel at all. Some need help finding better ways to deal with pain.

[UnrepentantLiberal]

6. "Stop resisting!"

This really is turning into a police state.

[SoapBox]

7. Not even a surprise...LA County Sheriff is dirty...same as LAPD..and who do they "serve to protect"?

They "serve to protect" each other.