2021 Update
In the ACLU’s decades-long effort to protect the rights of inmates in Los Angeles County, dozens of leaders and staff from the LA County Jail system and Sheriff’s department were ultimately found guilty of various civil rights abuses in a court of law, as well as by the Department of Justice.
More importantly, by 2014, the ACLU had reached a landmark consent decree in a case supported by the Barbara McDowell Foundation, under which the LASD had to adopt a detailed plan to reform its use of force policies and practices in Men’s Central Jail, Twin Towers Correctional Facility and the Inmate Reception Center. LASD’s implementation of the plan is subject to monitoring by a panel of court appointed experts and federal court enforcement. In 2015 a federal court granted final approval to the settlement.
Click here to see the original grant, including the six-month and year-end reports.