During a rally on Monday, the Justice LA Coalition demanded that the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors shut down the Men’s Central Jail once and for all.
Activists, supporters, and family members of those who have died in custody say it has been five years to the day since the supervisors started the process of closing the Men’s Central Jail, but nothing has been done.
The group also said the old facility is decrepit and dangerous, adding that several inmates have died since the county supervisors first produced the 2021 report about closing the jail.
“We're seeing the highest in custody death rate in the last 20 years, where people continue to die,” one woman told the crowd, adding that there needs to be alternatives to incarceration.
Helen Jones says her son, John Horton, died in the facility in 2009, and she wants the jail closed permanently.
“We need this support,” she said. “We need to keep coming together to make this change and to make sure that they shut Men’s Central Jail down because as long as the jail is open, somebody will surely die.”
The group also marched near the Board of Supervisors’ chambers.
KNX News has reached out to several L.A. County Supervisors for comment.
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