Mother Jones is examining the worst prisons in America, and they recently stumbled across the atrocities that occur inside of L.A.'sTwin Towers Correctional Facility and Men's Central Jail. Inmates here fear attacks from guards as much as they do fellow inmates, and with a combined 9,500 prisoners, it makes enforcing rules and maintaining order throughout the prison difficult, if not impossible. This is the problem with California's penal system—horrendous overcrowding makes an already terrible experience even more traumatic because no one can see everything that goes on when there are prisoners on top of prisoners.
However, some of the stories out of this place are exceptionally brutal. The American Civil Liberties Unioncompiled a report in 2011 that alleges inmates are reportedly subject to random beatings from deputies, including an anecdotal story where deputies parade a naked attack victim through the prison while yelling "gay boy walking" before throwing him into an empty cell to be beaten and raped by other prisoners. The Los Angeles Sheriff's Department denies this vehemently.
The Los Angeles County jail system is as fucked up as any in the state, but ask yourself this: is it worse than being one of 6,000 people crammed into a space for 500? A place where you pray your gangrenous limbs just fall off because you know an amputation procedure with a filthy blade may very well be the end of your life? We didn't think so.
[via Mother Jones]
