In 2001, the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division (DOJ) launched an investigation into the conditions at the Los Angeles County Juvenile Halls (Central Juvenile Hall, Los Parings Juvenile Hall and Barry J. Nixdorf Juvenile Hall), pursuant to Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act ("CRIPA"), 42 U.S.C. § 1997 et seq. and the pattern or practice provision of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, 42 U.S.C. § 14141.

Based on its investigation, the DOJ concluded that the conditions and practices at the juvenile facilities violated the constitutional and statutory rights of juvenile residents in the areas of: medical and mental health care, sanitation, use of chemical spray, insufficient protection from harm, rehabilitation, education, telephone use, religious programming, translation services for Limited English Proficient (LEP) youth, and grievance procedures.

On April 9, 2003, the DOJ issued a findings letter which detailed the violations and set out a series of minimum remedial measures to bring the facility up to constitutional standards. The State accepted the recommendations and the parties entered into a voluntary Settlement Agreement on August 12, 2004 to ensure compliance.

We have no further information on this matter.

Dan Dalton - 03/11/2008


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