- “We’re going to court because we have no other choice—we will not let Los Angeles County continue to ignore its responsibility to the health, safety, and well-being of the individuals under its care.” – California Attorney General Rob Bonta
LOS ANGELES – California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a sweeping lawsuit against Los Angeles County, the Sheriff’s Department, and Correctional Health Services this week, alleging ongoing unconstitutional and inhumane conditions inside the nation’s largest jail system.
The lawsuit follows a 2021 investigation by the Attorney General’s Office into whether the Sheriff’s Department had engaged in a pattern of unconstitutional policing and mistreatment of people in its custody. According to the complaint, the investigation revealed widespread rights violations and what state officials call a “humanitarian crisis” inside county jails.
“In recent years, my office has successfully negotiated settlements with law enforcement agencies across California to reform their practices, including most recently, an agreement with the neighboring city of Torrance,” Bonta said. “While the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and Sheriff Luna have made a number of reforms to patrol operations during the course of our investigation, they have remained obstinate on the issue of improving the unsafe and unconstitutional conditions at county jails.”
Bonta explained, “We’re going to court because we have no other choice — we will not let Los Angeles County continue to ignore its responsibility to the health, safety, and well-being of the individuals under its care. Los Angeles operates the largest jail system in the United States — and one of the most problematic.”
He added, “When we’re talking about feces smeared on the walls and medical care denied to those in need, we’re talking about a disrespect for the basic dignity of our fellow humans and a violation of their most fundamental constitutional rights. We’re confident the court will agree.”
The Attorney General’s complaint describes a system plagued by overcrowding, extreme understaffing, preventable deaths, and deteriorating facilities. Since 2016, more than 345 people have died inside Los Angeles County jails, with roughly 60 percent of those deaths occurring in the last four years. This year alone, 36 people have died in custody, averaging nearly one death per week. The filing notes that the county is on track to record its highest number of in-custody deaths in 20 years.
The lawsuit alleges that county leaders and the Sheriff’s Department have been aware of unconstitutional conditions for decades, citing ongoing federal court oversight, class action lawsuits, and repeated reports from local oversight bodies. The jails have been under court monitoring since 1979.
Sheriff Robert Luna has conceded publicly that “there are some unacceptable conditions” in the jails. Dr. Timothy Belavich, Director of Correctional Health Services, has acknowledged that “it’s impossible to provide adequate treatment” and described the healthcare system as “broken.”
Despite acknowledging these failures, county officials have not taken sufficient corrective action, according to the Attorney General. The filing asserts that the county has instead spent millions defending lawsuits and settlements over jail abuses while refusing to implement lasting reforms.
The complaint details grim conditions faced by people inside. Cells are overcrowded, with broken toilets, rat and roach infestations, and mold-covered walls. People report being forced to drink from dirty faucets near toilets, while fountains often do not function. In some facilities, incarcerated people have been observed using plastic garbage bags as blankets to protect themselves from extreme cold.
Food is routinely expired, moldy, or nutritionally inadequate. Meals often consist of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with chips and milk. Pregnant individuals have been denied prenatal diets, sufficient water, and timely medical care. In one case, a baby died after a woman’s medical requests were delayed. Another woman gave birth in a wheelchair in a jail hallway, where her newborn fell to the ground.
Access to hygiene supplies is scarce. People are regularly denied soap, toilet paper, menstrual products, and clean bedding. Even when required by law, items are rationed or sold at marked-up commissary prices. State law requires regular showers, but individuals have reported going days or weeks without access, sometimes as a form of retaliation by deputies. Oversight agencies have also documented extreme temperatures. In recent winters, people inside jails have died of hypothermia.
During summer inspections, monitors reported stiflingly hot cells without ventilation. The complaint highlights a “severe and prolonged absence of sanitation measures,” including feces-smeared walls, raw sewage, insect infestations, and trash-filled cells. Commissioners have observed blood stains left for weeks on the floor of Twin Towers and sewage flowing through drains at Men’s Central Jail.
According to the lawsuit, the healthcare system inside county jails is dangerously inadequate. Incarcerated individuals routinely wait weeks or months for basic medical care, if they receive it at all. In 2023, 4,000 patients were on a waitlist to see medical staff, while only seven psychologists served more than 4,500 patients, a ratio of one psychologist for every 642 people.
Preventable deaths, including suicides and overdoses, are common. The complaint notes that from 2016 to 2025, 37.5 percent of deaths in LASD jails were caused by preventable circumstances. Safety checks required by law are often skipped, delayed, or performed perfunctorily. In some cases, deputies missed multiple checks while watching videos on county computers, resulting in suicides that could have been prevented.
A New Way of Life Reentry Project, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit that supports women returning from incarceration, welcomed the lawsuit.
“The horrific systemic abuse and inhumane treatment of incarcerated people in LA County jails must end and this lawsuit is a critical first step towards justice and accountability,” said Michael Towler, Co-Executive Director. “Those housed at LA County Jails have endured unsanitary, overcrowded, and dehumanizing conditions while in custody, many at the hands of the LA County Sheriffs’ Office. These conditions further exacerbate existing harm and trauma in individuals awaiting sentencing or release, making reentry and healing more difficult while increasing the chance of recidivism and victimization. Every human deserves to be treated with dignity and respect, regardless of whether they are imprisoned or free.”
The organization pointed to research underscoring the risks women face in jail. The Prison Policy Initiative has reported that women in jails face higher mortality rates than men and are more likely to enter custody with untreated medical conditions or mental illnesses. The Marshall Project has found that nearly half of women entering prison or jail have already been victims of sexual abuse, with many reporting continued abuse while incarcerated.
The lawsuit seeks injunctive and declaratory relief requiring the county and Sheriff’s Department to make sweeping changes, including constitutionally adequate medical, dental, and mental health care, protections against unreasonable risk of harm, habitable and safe living conditions, dignity and health safeguards, timely responses to healthcare requests, accommodations for people with disabilities, equal access to programs and services, and interpretation and translation services for people with limited English proficiency.
The filing also outlines a long history of resistance by county officials. Despite repeated oversight, the Sheriff’s Department has often failed to implement reforms required by consent decrees and settlements. In 2014, a federal settlement addressed discrimination against people with mobility disabilities.
In 2012, another agreement focused on excessive use of force. Both remain under monitoring, with the county still out of compliance on major provisions. Reports by the Kolts Commission, the Office of Inspector General, and the Civilian Oversight Commission have repeatedly identified the same problems for decades, from deputy gangs to overcrowding to lack of accountability. Yet the county has resisted oversight and failed to address root causes.
Bonta noted that the lawsuit is part of his office’s broader strategy to reform law enforcement across California. In the last two years, his office has secured agreements with the Torrance and Vallejo police departments, concluded oversight of the San Francisco Police Department after years of compliance monitoring, and launched pattern-or-practice investigations into police agencies in Antioch, Riverside, and Santa Clara counties.
For Los Angeles County, however, the Attorney General said litigation was the only path left.
“The county has ignored too many warnings for too long,” the complaint states. “These conditions are unconstitutional, unconscionable, and cannot be allowed to persist.”
The lawsuit marks one of the most significant interventions in jail operations in state history. For the thousands of people currently confined in Los Angeles County’s eight jail facilities, the outcome could determine whether a system long described as “broken” can finally be forced to meet constitutional standards.
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