The LA County Sheriff’s Department has over a decade of reported “gangs” that physically abuse inmates. In 2011, ACLU Southern California released a report that found deputy gangs “thrive” inside LA County jails. In 2023, the Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission released a report making the same allegations, saying: “The Department currently contains several active groups that have been, and still are, engaged in harmful, dangerous, and often illegal behavior.”
In September 2025, Attorney General Rob Bonta sued LA County for the inhumane conditions of their prisons and consistent constitutional violations against the inmates that reside in them. The lawsuit mentions the high rate of inmate deaths and the lack of clean water and food. Bonta mentioned Men’s Central Jail, or MCJ, in Downtown LA “The County has publicly conceded that Men’s Central Jail needs to be replaced and voted to close it in 2020, yet it remains in operation without the necessary issues being addressed,” the lawsuit alleges.
LA’s commitment to criminal justice is dwindling. There is over a decade of evidence that reveals the cruelty inside its prisons, yet little progress has been made. Surprisingly, it is not a matter of a lack of funding or poor planning, but rather the complacency of LA County and its leadership. MCJ remains open and operational despite multiple reports, County-led teams, and advocacy groups have supported its closure. The glacial pace in which the County has moved in closing MCJ represents a broader pattern of negligence towards uprooting systems of cruelty embedded in our city.
MCJ was originally built in 1963, and the last renovation was done in 1970. The structure houses over 5,000 inmates, and conditions have been described as overcrowded and abusive. Specifically, the Bonta lawsuit alleges, “They are provided spoiled, moldy, and nutritionally inadequate meals; little to no access to hygiene items… and almost no time outside their cells.” There are 38 reported in-custody inmate deaths across all custody services within the Sheriff Department’s jurisdiction.
Discussions of renovating Men’s Central Jail began in 2015, when the LA County Board of Supervisors drafted a plan to replace 3,885 beds in the facility. In 2018, a $2.2 billion plan was approved to replace the entire jail. The new facility was planned to be named “The Consolidated Correctional Treatment Facility,” with a design approach that would support inmates’ medical and mental needs.
Similarly in 2019, the board decided to scrap the original plan and invest $1.7 billion into tearing down MCJ and rebuilding a mental health hospital instead. Both plans to rebuild the jail failed, and in 2021 the board decided to get rid of MCJ altogether. The board, consisting of the California Department of Health Services, Office of Diversion and Reentry, and the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, developed a comprehensive plan to close MCJ. “Care First, Jails Last” was the philosophy behind the entire project, highlighting this as an opportunity to address systemic and racial inequalities found in the city’s prison system.
The Men’s Central Jail Closure Plan, finalized in March 30, 2021, ambitiously sets the timeline for 18 to 24 months. The report doesn’t outline specific funding to close MCJ, but it does briefly mention Measure J, a bill that required no less than 10% of the county’s budget to be dedicated towards finding alternatives to incarceration. At the time of the report, the current population of incarcerated people in LA County was 15,000, and the estimated minimum number of people that needed to be diverted was 4,500.
The plan is divided into three parts: Facilities, Community, and Diversion. The county must redistribute inmates every six months, while investing in community resources. Additionally, the county would divert individuals with serious mental health and medical issues into already existing state subsidized programs.
The closure date swiftly passed and few changes have been made to the facility, and conditions have not improved. Not only did the plan hinge on leadership and funding that was not readily available, but the county failed to implement any part of its plan. Justice LA Coalition is spearheading the primary campaign to close MCJ, which is funded by Dignity and Power Now, an LA based non-profit. Janet Asante, spokesperson for Justice LA Coalition, described why she believes MCJ remains open.
“This county has a muscle memory of doing carceral actions,” she said. “There was no one to really to coordinate and force these different arms and levers of the bureaucracy to do things differently.”
Asante argued that instead of funding the Sheriff’s department and jails, they could fund community resources. The Alternatives to Incarceration Initiative released a report with over 100 recommendations that the county could implement to prevent recidivism. It includes recommendations for community centers, law enforcement, and release or supervision practices. The report emphasizes expanding existing crisis mediation and violence prevention programs. Moreover, it holistically evaluates the needs of every individual who comes into contact with law enforcement.
Over 50% of inmates at MCJ are awaiting pretrial, in which an individual has not even been found guilty of a crime yet. One of the recommendations is to “institute an assumption of pretrial release for all individuals.” If people awaiting pretrial were reasonably released, this would significantly reduce the population of inmates, at least for the time being.
Asante justifies funding any alternatives to incarceration. “It’s less expensive than keeping them in a jail and also just better for them and for the community,” she said.
The MCJ closure team was housed under the Justice, Care, and Opportunities Department, or JCOD, and was tasked with following through on the initial closure plan. Asante alleged that the supervisors of the team didn’t actually believe in jail closure, which is why no progress was made towards closing MCJ. She highlighted that the Housing and Sheriff’s department did not aid in the transition to close MCJ. Moreover, it came to light that JCOD had absorbed the funds for the implementation team and created a call center.
“So at no point in time did they hire any staff to actually do the implementation,” Asante mentioned.
As a result, the implementation team was taken out of JCOD’s jurisdiction and was independently staffed this August. The new “Community Safety Implementation Team” has similar goals as the previous closure plan, with an emphasis on reducing inflow and length of stays for inmates. Despite this milestone, the original plan to close MCJ is now outdated. Asante expects the $4 billion lawsuit against LA County, regarding child sex abuse in juvenile facilities, will limit the financial paths the new team can take.
MCJ is open today because LA doesn’t want to close it. It is easier for the County to stay committed to our penal system than it is to completely uproot it. The County has enabled carceral violence every time a report is published or a team is created, but is not followed with action. At this point, there is only one solution: start.
There are hundreds of alternatives to incarceration in LA. There is a fully staffed team and a plan to execute the closure of MCJ. The only thing missing is the determination to begin undoing the violence perpetuated by our city. In Asante’s words, “If we’re not at the 18 to 24 months, can we start?”
Featured Image Source: witnessLA
