Lawyer Challenges Restraints for Juvenile Hall Inmates

On the opening day of a trial that challenges the way errant youths are treated at Juvenile Hall, a civil rights lawyer said he would prove that it is not necessary to physically restrain adolescents who misbehave.

Mark I. Soler, an attorney with San Francisco’s Youth Law Center, said in a brief opening statement that the six-week trial will focus on the practice of binding juvenile detainees to a metal-frame bed when they are deemed to be out of control.

“The evidence will show that tie-down restraints are not considered necessary at juvenile institutions around the country,” he told Superior Court Judge Linda H. McLaughlin, who is hearing the case without a jury. “Alternatives are readily available and are effective.”

The Youth Law Center and the American Civil Liberties Union contend that the restraints and other practices--including placing teen-agers in padded rooms when they misbehave--are improper and must be revised. The county defends its actions as necessary and safe. Attorney David G. Epstein, who represents the county, reserved his opening statement for later.

The plaintiffs’ first witness, an assistant division director who oversees five of the 15 units in Juvenile Hall, provided details of the way minors are treated once they are subjected to the soft-cloth restraints.

Mack A. Jenkins said each of the units has at least one room that is used for tie-downs, and each room has a metal-frame bed that is bolted to the floor. A juvenile who is being restrained is spread-eagled, face down on the mattress, and his legs, arms and waist are tied to the bed frame.

Staff members offer the teen-ager water every half an hour, Jenkins said. If the minor is not yet calm enough to be untied, staffers will hold the youngster’s head to facilitate a drink of water, Jenkins said. Bedpans are offered every hour. Jenkins said staff members try to use the appeal of mealtimes to induce the detainee to calm down, but if that fails, food is set aside to be eaten after restraints are removed.

Jenkins also described Juvenile Hall’s two “rubber rooms,” which the county contends are used only to protect violent youths from doing harm to themselves or to those around them.

“We call them safety rooms,” Jenkins said. “It has a padded floor, walls and door. The room is bare with the exception of a mattress.”

The plaintiffs have argued that the Juvenile Hall staff resorts to use of the tie-downs and rubber rooms too quickly, when less drastic methods for calming the youngsters are available.