sunkissed
11-25-2003, 11:20 AM
November 24, 2003
Keeping Kids in Tiny Cells Downtown Is Cruel, and Probably Illegal
The sheriff is holding juveniles in the Men's Central Jail despite a
finding by Los Angeles County that the facility isn't fit for them.
By Michael Bochenek and Javier Stauring
The Men's Central Jail in downtown Los Angeles currently holds about 30
youths under the age of 18 — twice as many kids as the combined total
for all the other adult jails in California.
These are all children who have been charged or tried as adults but, by
law, they must be separated by sight and sound from adult detainees. To
comply with that standard, the youths are generally locked in
windowless single cells for 23 1/2 hours each day. The cells measure 4
by 8 feet, which means that they are confined in spaces narrower than
their outstretched arms.
It's outrageous that youths as young as 14 should be held in such
conditions. But even though the county Board of Supervisors decided in
July to move them all to a juvenile hall, they're still there. And this
month the sheriff's office said it had no intention of moving them all.
Those who are close to age 18 or who are serving sentences of one year
or less in county jail will have to stay.
What's life like for these kids? In addition to 30 minutes a day for
showers and phone calls, they have a three-hour recreation period once
a week in individual rooftop cages that are just slightly larger than
their cells and contain only a pull-up bar and a telephone. Apart from
these brief breaks, family and attorney visits and trips to the nurse
or court, they remain locked up with little or nothing to do.
They may not watch television or listen to the radio. They eat their
meals alone in their cells.
There is no classroom instruction in the jail. Instead, each youth sees
a teacher through the cell bars for five to 15 minutes, two or three
times a week. Jail staff told us that state education laws required
only one hour of face-to-face instruction per week, but the jail does
not meet even that minimum requirement. In addition, jail officials
make no efforts to identify youths with special education needs,
despite a federal law that requires they do so.
In these harsh detention conditions, there have been at least three
suicide attempts in the last six months. One boy tried to kill himself
on June 30. Two others attempted suicide on or about May 24. One of
these boys had a history of mental illness and had previously attempted
to kill himself while in police custody.
It was the suicide attempts that persuaded the Board of Supervisors
that the jail was unsuitable and unsafe for kids. That was nearly five
months ago. Sheriff Lee Baca told us at the end of July that all of the
kids would be out within 60 days. But it wasn't until Nov. 14 that the
first four kids moved from the Men's Central Jail to a juvenile hall in
Norwalk.
Under the Sheriff's Department's latest policy, some kids would remain
at Men's Central for up to one year. And at least two youths have
entered the jail in the week since the first group transferred to
Norwalk.
The new Sheriff's Department policy is probably illegal; after all, the
board has effectively closed Men's Central for juvenile detainees. It's
certainly illogical: The Sheriff's Department has apparently decided
that it can house some youths in unsuitable conditions even though the
board has determined that the jail is fit for none of them.
And the policy is resoundingly unwise, inviting costly litigation and
failing to give youths the rehabilitative services that they will need
before they return to their communities.
It is difficult to see how anyone could disagree with the board's
decision to move these kids. Locking juveniles up in such tiny spaces
is simply cruel. The fact that many of them were charged with serious
crimes, including murder, cannot excuse the deplorable conditions in
which they are held.
"Forcing juveniles to be adults just causes more anger that comes out
in the wrong way," wrote one youth who entered the jail at age 16. "And
those who hold it in are the ones who try to take their lives."
Nor is it reasonable for the Sheriff's Department to argue that there
is no other place to hold these youths safely. California's juvenile
halls routinely house youths charged as adults with serious crimes.
Ironically, the largest group that would remain in Men's Central under
the sheriff's plan — those who are serving one-year sentences — are
those who are being held for less serious offensives.
County officials need to show some leadership on this issue. Judges
should not refuse to transfer kids from a facility that the Board of
Supervisors has deemed unsafe. Sheriff Baca shouldn't backtrack on his
promise to move all of the kids now held in Men's Central. And the
board shouldn't stand by while its employees flout its directives.
They should all remember that treating detained kids inhumanely
benefits nobody — not the youths themselves, not the adults who are
charged with their care and not the communities to which they will one
day return.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Michael Bochenek is counsel to the Children's Rights Division of Human
Rights Watch. Javier Stauring is co-director of detention ministries
for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and policy director for Faith
Communities for Families and Children.
Keeping Kids in Tiny Cells Downtown Is Cruel, and Probably Illegal
The sheriff is holding juveniles in the Men's Central Jail despite a
finding by Los Angeles County that the facility isn't fit for them.
By Michael Bochenek and Javier Stauring
The Men's Central Jail in downtown Los Angeles currently holds about 30
youths under the age of 18 — twice as many kids as the combined total
for all the other adult jails in California.
These are all children who have been charged or tried as adults but, by
law, they must be separated by sight and sound from adult detainees. To
comply with that standard, the youths are generally locked in
windowless single cells for 23 1/2 hours each day. The cells measure 4
by 8 feet, which means that they are confined in spaces narrower than
their outstretched arms.
It's outrageous that youths as young as 14 should be held in such
conditions. But even though the county Board of Supervisors decided in
July to move them all to a juvenile hall, they're still there. And this
month the sheriff's office said it had no intention of moving them all.
Those who are close to age 18 or who are serving sentences of one year
or less in county jail will have to stay.
What's life like for these kids? In addition to 30 minutes a day for
showers and phone calls, they have a three-hour recreation period once
a week in individual rooftop cages that are just slightly larger than
their cells and contain only a pull-up bar and a telephone. Apart from
these brief breaks, family and attorney visits and trips to the nurse
or court, they remain locked up with little or nothing to do.
They may not watch television or listen to the radio. They eat their
meals alone in their cells.
There is no classroom instruction in the jail. Instead, each youth sees
a teacher through the cell bars for five to 15 minutes, two or three
times a week. Jail staff told us that state education laws required
only one hour of face-to-face instruction per week, but the jail does
not meet even that minimum requirement. In addition, jail officials
make no efforts to identify youths with special education needs,
despite a federal law that requires they do so.
In these harsh detention conditions, there have been at least three
suicide attempts in the last six months. One boy tried to kill himself
on June 30. Two others attempted suicide on or about May 24. One of
these boys had a history of mental illness and had previously attempted
to kill himself while in police custody.
It was the suicide attempts that persuaded the Board of Supervisors
that the jail was unsuitable and unsafe for kids. That was nearly five
months ago. Sheriff Lee Baca told us at the end of July that all of the
kids would be out within 60 days. But it wasn't until Nov. 14 that the
first four kids moved from the Men's Central Jail to a juvenile hall in
Norwalk.
Under the Sheriff's Department's latest policy, some kids would remain
at Men's Central for up to one year. And at least two youths have
entered the jail in the week since the first group transferred to
Norwalk.
The new Sheriff's Department policy is probably illegal; after all, the
board has effectively closed Men's Central for juvenile detainees. It's
certainly illogical: The Sheriff's Department has apparently decided
that it can house some youths in unsuitable conditions even though the
board has determined that the jail is fit for none of them.
And the policy is resoundingly unwise, inviting costly litigation and
failing to give youths the rehabilitative services that they will need
before they return to their communities.
It is difficult to see how anyone could disagree with the board's
decision to move these kids. Locking juveniles up in such tiny spaces
is simply cruel. The fact that many of them were charged with serious
crimes, including murder, cannot excuse the deplorable conditions in
which they are held.
"Forcing juveniles to be adults just causes more anger that comes out
in the wrong way," wrote one youth who entered the jail at age 16. "And
those who hold it in are the ones who try to take their lives."
Nor is it reasonable for the Sheriff's Department to argue that there
is no other place to hold these youths safely. California's juvenile
halls routinely house youths charged as adults with serious crimes.
Ironically, the largest group that would remain in Men's Central under
the sheriff's plan — those who are serving one-year sentences — are
those who are being held for less serious offensives.
County officials need to show some leadership on this issue. Judges
should not refuse to transfer kids from a facility that the Board of
Supervisors has deemed unsafe. Sheriff Baca shouldn't backtrack on his
promise to move all of the kids now held in Men's Central. And the
board shouldn't stand by while its employees flout its directives.
They should all remember that treating detained kids inhumanely
benefits nobody — not the youths themselves, not the adults who are
charged with their care and not the communities to which they will one
day return.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Michael Bochenek is counsel to the Children's Rights Division of Human
Rights Watch. Javier Stauring is co-director of detention ministries
for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and policy director for Faith
Communities for Families and Children.