The U.S. Justice Department has launched an investigation into conditions at Los Angeles County’s Men’s Central Jail, following years of concerns about poor conditions and inmate deaths.
The government will probe whether Los Angeles County has provided “humane” conditions to individuals housed there, and notified Sheriff Robert Luna of the federal inquiry in a letter Wednesday, according to a DOJ press release.
“Whether a person is held in a county jail, awaiting trial, or after conviction, the environmental conditions in that jail need to meet constitutional standards,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon in a statement.
Attorneys from the Civil Rights Division will conduct the investigation under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Personals Act. Officials at the sheriff’s department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
For some time now, pressure has been mounting on L.A. County to fix its jail system.
California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta last year filed suit against Los Angeles County over what he called a “humanitarian crisis,” alleging that inmates lacked access to clean water, edible food, and were being housed in facilities infested with roaches and rats.
In March, Sheriff Robert Luna also reached out to the National Institute of Corrections to examine conditions at Los Angeles County jails after a rash of in-custody jail deaths.
“I want someone to come in and review from top to bottom,” Luna told The Times in an interview.
County supervisors have pushed to shut down the facility, but plans on how to close the jail and what would happen to the inmates housed there have delayed action.
Asked about the federal probe, Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn said she has long supported a plan to replace MCJ with a mental health facility.
“Men’s Central Jail is an outdated an decrepit facility that puts both our Sheriff’s deputies and inmates at risk,” Hahn said in a statement. “My colleagues and I on the Board of Supervisors have long been committed to shutting it down. However, until then, we have a responsibility to ensure that everyone incarcerated there is safe, cared for, and treated with basic human dignity.”
The federal probe announced Wednesday is expected to look into those very conditions.
U.S. Attorney Todd Blanche notified Luna of the investigation in a letter, which was obtained by The Times.
“We have not reached any conclusions about the subject matter of this investigation,” reads the letter, which is signed by Blanche, Dhillon, and Bill Essayli, the first assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California. “We encourage the County to cooperate with our investigation and we assure you that we will seek to minimize any potential disruption our investigation may have on County operations.”
The probe will focus on the conditions in the facility itself and not on the actions of the deputies who work there, the DOJ statement said.
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