Alleged inmate abuse in L.A. jail
LOS ANGELES (BDCi) – L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca is being asked to step down by the American Civil Liberties Union after reports of alleged abuse within the county’s jail system.
The American Civil Liberties Union is calling for a full criminal and civil rights investigation of Los Angeles County jails after revealing cases of extreme violence against inmates by sheriff’s deputies
Paulino Juarez, a chaplain with the Los Angeles Archdiocese who monitors the Men’s Central Jail, said he witnessed an inmate being “brutally beaten” for no reason. Juarez also said the inmate begged for mercy during the beating. The deputies allegedly yelled “stop fighting!” to the inmate. Juarez says the man was not fighting.
Juarez is also claiming that when he approached Sheriff Lee Baca about the incident, Baca ignored it and the beating was covered up.
Baca says the ACLU is not telling people everything, that there are “violent inmates” at the County Jail and is welcoming the investigation, “Investigating the facts is what gets the truth, that is what we do.”
Juauez’s sworn statement is filled with another 71 statements that also allege inmate abuse, all in just the past year.
The FBI is currently investigating a woman’s claim that she saw two deputies beat an unconscious inmate for two minutes back in January.
By: Diego Díaz Edit by: Janete Weinstein Source: ABC & KTLA 29 September 2011
10:36 a.m. P.D.T.