On May 4, 1985, a taxpayer in Los Angeles County, California filed a lawsuit pursuant to California Code of Civil Procedure § 526(a) against the County of Los Angeles in the Superior Court of California for the County of Los Angeles. The plaintiff, who was represented by the Public Justice Foundation and the Youth Law Center, asked for injunctive relief, alleging that the detainment of minors in a Los Angeles adult jail facilities violated the guarantee of due process and the prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment under the United States and California Constitutions, as well as the California Welfare and Institutions Code. In Los Angeles County, there were practices of detaining minors without prior judicial determination that there was no other proper or adequate facility available, and of detaining minors in areas that allowed them to communicate with adult detainees.

On June 10, 1986, the Superior Court of California for the County of Los Angeles (Judge Norman Dowds) granted the plaintiff's request for a permanent injunction and enjoined the jail from confining or detaining juveniles in any locked room prior to a judicial determination, confining or detaining juveniles in a cellblock where there were cells reserved for adults, and confining or detaining juveniles where there was opportunity for communication with adult prisoners, finding that the jail's policies violated several provisions of the California Welfare and Institutions Code. The court retained jurisdiction over the case to determine whether the revised policies and procedures were consistent with the terms and provisions of the court's decision and injunction in addition to the California Welfare and Institutions Code, and to determine the plaintiff's costs and attorney's fees. The court awarded the plaintiff costs and attorney's fees, the amount of which were appealed. On June 30, 1988, the California Court of Appeal (Presiding Judge Spencer) affirmed the Superior Court's determination as to the amount of costs and attorney's fees. A. Thomas Hunt v. County of Los Angeles, 249 Cal. Rptr. 660 (Ct. App. 1988).

Kaitlin Corkran - 06/12/2006


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