Men's Central Jail

Construction and population

The construction of the Men's Central Jail was finished in 1963. The original building was designed to house 3,323 inmates. In 1976, an addition was added to the structure at the cost of $35 million, and by December 1990, inmate capacity was 5,276.

Men's Central Jail has severe overcrowding, leading to problems such as inmates lacking shower facilities, very short recreation times out of their cells, wearing dirty clothes for up to a week, and inmates sleeping on floors for extended periods of time. In March 1997, the inmate population was about 13,000, and saw similarly high numbers by June 2015, where the inmate population was about 17,000 and increased to 19,000 by August, where the legal limits on the jail population were only for 15,000 inmates.

Notable inmates

• Chris Brown, recording artist
• Nick Reiner, son of actor Rob Reiner
• Danny Masterson, former actor
• Drakeo the Ruler, rapper
• Edward Furlong, actor
• Erik Menendez
• Harvey Weinstein, former film producer
• Kelsey Grammer, actor
• O. J. Simpson
• Richard Goldberg, sex offender
• Richard Pryor, comedian
• Richard Ramirez
• Ron Jeremy, pornographic actor
• Scott Weiland, Stone Temple Pilots' songwriter and lead singer
• Sean Penn, actor
• Shorty Rossi, reality TV personality
• Suge Knight
• Todd Bridges, actor, Diff'rent Strokes
• Tommy Lee, Mötley Crüe's drummer
• YG (rapper)

Services

Men's Central Jail provides some services to its inmates. Inmates can attend self-help classes on domestic violence, alcohol abuse, and substance abuse. Religious services are provided to inmates in the wake of several ACLU lawsuits. As of 2004, selected inmates can earn a GED while incarcerated.

The jail is also one of the few in the US that has a dedicated LGBT unit known as the K6G unit.

Violence and lawsuits

The ACLU has sued Men's Central Jail for major civil rights violations. The United States Department of Justice has also sued the Men's Central Jail.

In 2013, federal prosecutors charged 18 Sheriff's Deputies with excessive use of force. In June 2015, Los Angeles Sheriff's Deputies were found guilty of beating a handcuffed man at the Men's Central Jail.

References

References

1. Sewell, Abby. (9 June 2015). "County supervisors vote to reconsider size of new Men's Central Jail". [[Los Angeles Times]].
2. Medina, Jennifer. (28 September 2011). "Report Details Wide Abuse in Los Angeles Jail System". [[The New York Times]].
3. Don Thompson, [[Associated Press]]. (2 February 2015). "Infographic: County jail populations across California dip after Prop 47 - 89.3 KPCC". [[KPCC (radio station).
4. Ucar, Ani. (18 November 2014). "In the Gay Wing of L.A. Men's Central Jail, It's Not Shanks and Muggings But Hand-Sewn Gowns and Tears". [[LA Weekly]].
5. "Cell breakouts, attacks 'easy' in outdated Men's Central Jail". [[KABC-TV.
6. (3 June 2015). "At least one inmate stabbed in riot at Los Angeles jail". Reuters.
7. James Ridgeway and Jean Casella. (8 May 2013). "America's 10 Worst Prisons: LA County". [[Mother Jones (magazine).
8. (2020-07-07). "LA County Votes To Initiate Plan To Close Men's Central Jail Within The Year".
9. (2020-07-08). "L.A. County seeks plan to close aging Men's Central Jail in a year".
10. (5 May 2010). "LA's Men's Central Jail plagued by overcrowding, unsanitary conditions, violence". [[KPCC (radio station).
11. Villacorte, Christina. (28 August 2017). "Upkeep is proving costly as Men's Central Jail shows its age". [[Los Angeles Daily News]].
12. "L.A. COUNTY'S CENTRAL JAIL : Overcrowding and Age Burden Facility". [[Los Angeles Times]].
13. "ACLU Criticizes Jail Overcrowding". [[Los Angeles Times]].
14. Villacorte, Christina. (28 August 2017). "Men's Central Jail overcrowding crisis could cost $1.7 billion to fix". [[Los Angeles Daily News]].
15. (15 April 2009). "ACLU calls Men's Central Jail a dungeon, seeks closure". [[Los Angeles Daily News]].
16. "ACLU Demands Meeting as Jail Crowding Soars". [[Los Angeles Times]].
17. Breuer, Howard. (17 March 2014). "Chris Brown Ordered to Remain in Jail". [[People (magazine).
18. Schladebeck, Jessica. (June 3, 2023). "Danny Masterson awaits sentencing in ‘segregation’ for safety".
19. "Drakeo the Ruler: Thank You for Using GTL".
20. "Edward Furlong sentenced to 6 months in jail over probation violation".
21. Vasquez, Whitney. (2021-07-20). "Harvey Weinstein Jumps Off Private Jet Without Handcuffs, Disgraced Mogul Arrives To Los Angeles In Style Following Extradition".
22. Miller, Samantha. (22 December 1997). "The Party's Over". [[People (magazine).
23. LeDuff, Charlie. (20 November 2002). "Room 7201: celebrity confinement California style". [[The Guardian]].
24. Dobruck, Jeremiah. (2024-05-30). "Notorious sexual predator released from prison, immediately rearrested by Long Beach police".
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27. (2012-01-10). "Four Feet Tall and Rising".
28. Susman, Gary. (26 February 2003). "Suge Knight is released from jail". [[Entertainment Weekly]].
29. Timnick, Lois. (10 November 1989). "Mistrial Declared in Bridges' Assault Case". [[Los Angeles Times]].
30. [https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/24/entertainment/yg-arrested/index.html YG arrested on robbery charges after Los Angeles home raid] Marianne Garvey and Stella Chan, [[CNN]], January 24, 2020
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33. Ricci, James. (7 April 2004). "Gay Jail Inmates Get Chance to Learn". [[Los Angeles Times]].
34. (29 August 2017). "ACLU report: L.A.'s Men's Central Jail 'nightmarish'". [[Los Angeles Daily News]].
35. (19 January 2012). "L.A. County Sheriff's Department sued by ACLU". [[Los Angeles Times]].
36. Stoltze, Frank. (5 May 2010). "ACLU: LA County jail guards perpetuate violence". [[KPCC (radio station).
37. Vogel, Chris. (19 May 2011). "Men's County Jail Visitor Viciously Beaten by Guards". [[LA Weekly]].
38. "LA County Jails". [[American Civil Liberties Union]].
39. Southern California Public Radio. (4 August 2015). "Source: LA Sheriff agrees to new reforms at jails, settles civil DOJ lawsuit". [[KPCC (radio station).
40. Southern California Public Radio. (6 June 2014). "Los Angeles County's jails operating under unconstitutional conditions, says Justice Department". [[KPCC (radio station).
41. Faturechi, Robert. (25 September 2011). "FBI probing reports of beatings in L.A. County jails". [[Los Angeles Times]].
42. Solomon, Diana Beth. (28 April 2015). "U.S. reaches anti-bias accord with Los Angeles County sheriff". Reuters.
43. Robert Faturechi and Jack Leonard. (9 December 2013). "18 Los Angeles sheriff's officials indicted, accused of abuse, obstruction". [[Los Angeles Times]].
44. Medina, Jennifer. (9 December 2013). "U.S. Charges 18 Sheriff's Officers in Inquiry Into Misconduct at Los Angeles Jails". [[The New York Times]].
45. Phillips, Erica E.. (2 July 2014). "Six L.A. Sheriff's Officers Found Guilty of Obstructing Justice". [[Wall Street Journal]].
46. "18 L.A. County deputies charged in civil rights, corruption probe". [[WITI (TV).
47. (June 24, 2015). "L.A. sheriff's deputies, sergeant found guilty in jail beating". CBS News.
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49. Rubin, Joel. (17 June 2015). "Ex-deputy: L.A. County sheriff's deputies beat jail visitor, then lied". [[Los Angeles Times]].
50. (25 June 2015). "Three Deputy Sheriffs Found Guilty of Federal Civil Rights Offense in Beating of Visitor at Downtown Los Angeles Jail". [[United States Department of Justice]].