LA County, like the state (and the city of LA) has big budget problems. So to help shrink his budget gap, Sheriff Lee Baca has plans to close one of the county jails—in particular North Jail Facility at Pitchess Detention Center, which is a part of the sprawling jail facility located up near to Six Flags Magic Mountain.
There are two problems with this plan.
1. Closing a jail will increase the already intense overcrowding in the county’s jail system.
2. More importantly, the North Jail facility, which houses 1600 men, is—according to the ACLU—the wrong jail to be shutting down.
I agree.
The jail to close is the very troubled and dangerous Men’s Central Jail, the place the ACLU has been pushing hard to have shuttered . Baca himself called for Men’s Central Jail to be closed last February, saying that the jail has “outlived its time.”
More than that, it’s filthy and perilous. Apart from budget problems, CJ needs to be bulldozed.
As the ACLU points out, there are alternatives:
“Because Los Angeles County has to be serious about saving money, given the current economy, the Board of Supervisors should commit to developing alternatives to detention that reduce jail populations and treat many detainees more effectively without any increased risk to public safety,” said Margaret Winter, associate director of the ACLU National Prison Project.
A comprehensive pre-trial release program that makes use of electronic monitoring, supported housing, and drug and mental-health treatment programs could be adopted at a fraction of the cost of jail. And because countless studies have shown that these programs reduce recidivism and the risk of new offenses, they do far more to protect public safety than a brutalizing jail stay.
I think Sheriff Baca would actually like to make use of some of these suggestions. Maybe the state and county’s budget meltdowns will give him some of the political cover he needs to do so.
The LA Times has more.
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(MORE POSTING LATER THIS MORNING)
ACLU: developing alternatives to detention that reduce jail populations
Yeah, to the folks at the ACLU, throwing open the prison gates is preferable to saving costs, for which there is plenty of room when dealing with a union and government waste.
And, do you trust the ACLU’s referenced “studies” or our actual experiences with the criminal mind? Poetry classes are not a good solution for reducing repeat offenders.
Let’s pay Mexico a token amount to put our convicts in their stylish Mexican prisons, which is only fair seeing how many citizens of that country are crowding our prisons. Prisoners should be glad that they’re not in the prisons of other countries.
Woody, when in the past there have been prisoner swaps with other countries, Mexico in particular, most prisoners opted to go back to Mexico rather than stay in the USA’s barbaric and draconian prison system.
Another roadblock is the lucrative multi billion dollar prison industrial system in place here that includes the Prison Guards unions who always attempt to put the kibosh on any prison swap plan or early release of inmates. You think there might be a conflict of interest here? Oh yeah.
Celeste, I agree with you 100% on closing LACJ, it’s been condemned nationally and internationally as the shithole and medieval Siberia it is. The culture of violence and depravity that exists there, not only with the hooked up inmates but with the sick Torquemada like LACS guards, is an international disgrace.
I think jail needs to be a bit uncomfortable. As a bail bondsman, I have been inside many jails in Southern California. Although the jails are not perfect, the inmates are treated reasonably well. They get 3 meals, they are not tortured and some out-reach programs are available for those seeking those services.
Most of the people in jail committed a crime and should be punished. Unfortunaltly, not all people learn their lesson if you coddle them. Some of the people in jail are just plain “bad”. It’s unfortunate that they chose to break the law in first place.
In short, Los Angeles County jail system is not perfect. It never will be perfect. However, it does serve a purpose. I’m sure many of those incarcerated persons will think twice before committing their next crime.
intill you have been to jail shut your mouth….most of the people have drug problems….deal with that and the shit holes will not be over flowing with humans….