Last year, the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors released a report that said the LA Juvenile Halls were “unsuitable for youth habitation.” This means the conditions were so bad that young people shouldn't be made to live there. Youths were being physically restrained, locked into solitary confinement, which is considered torture for adults, let alone young people. They were prevented from leaving their rooms to use the bathroom—leading them to hoard milk cartons so they had a place to piss. Just this week, almost 300 people filed a lawsuit against the LA County Probation Department for widespread sexual assault from 1970 to 2018—alleging repeated rape, sexual violence and threats of increased sentences if the young people resisted or spoke out.
After being given months to fix the problems, there was supposed to be an inspection last spring to follow up on this report. In order to evade the inspection, the Probation Department pigs who run these jails rushed to transfer 140 youths to another facility—leaving parents to search for their children. The Probation Department wasn't worried about the health and well-being of the youths in their custody—they were worried about more of their ugly shit coming to light. This made the situation worse for the youth, increasing the violence.
The response from the pigs? Repeated lockdowns where youths can't leave their cells for days on end—schooling was cancelled and visits were cancelled from family and lawyers. Things got more chaotic and dangerous for the youth—who understandably lashed out against such demeaning conditions and brutal treatment.
In the months that followed, dozens and dozens of these pigs called out sick from work for days or weeks on end—worried about their own comfort and safety. Those who didn't call out responded with more violence—wantonly using pepper spray on these youth. In the first half of 2022, pepper spray was used four times as much as the first half of 2021, and in the months between June to September of this year, it was used over 230 times. Grown men and women are using chemical agents to subdue children and teenagers—chemical agents directed to inflict pain and burning in the eyes and skin, leading to asthma and coughing fits, and can be deadly.
At every step, with every new crisis, the answer of this system is to double down with more violence and terror against these young people.
