LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors took a major step today toward significantly reducing the population of L.A. County Jails during the COVID-19 pandemic. In an executive order, the Board directed the Los Angeles County health officer to identify "all necessary and appropriate measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the jails...and make any orders necessary for that purpose."
Please attribute the following statement to Jacob Reisberg, jails conditions advocate for the ACLU of Southern California:
"We are grateful that the Board has recognized the urgent need to protect people in the jails and community from the spread of COVID-19. We urge the county health officer to issue an order as soon as possible, as this will allow the sheriff to exercise his statutory authority to build on the steps he has already taken by dramatically lowering the jail population. This will protect not only people in the jails but the community as a whole."
Read the Board’s executive order here: https://www.aclusocal.org/sites/default/files/los_angeles_county_board_of_supervisors_20200323_covid19_jails_final_executive_order.pdf
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