Complaints on 3 Outlying Youth Facilities Dropped

In the midst of a trial over the way Orange County treats youthful offenders in Juvenile Hall, civil rights attorneys on Thursday abandoned a host of allegations about mistreatment in three outlying detention facilities.

Still intact are the 14 complaints that form the core of the class-action case against Juvenile Hall--including the practice of tying teens to their beds or putting them in “rubber rooms” when they misbehave.

But half a dozen of the allegations that applied to three other facilities were withdrawn by attorneys representing current and former detainees in the juvenile justice system.

That means that the Youth Guidance Center in Santa Ana, the Joplin Youth Center in Trabuco Canyon and Los Pinos forestry camp in the Cleveland National Forest are now the subject of only two allegations: that minors are given inadequate mental health care and are improperly subjected to strip-searches.

Voluntarily dismissed were allegations that minors in the outlying facilities have difficulty getting access to lawyers and telephones, that their calls and visits are monitored and that their mail is censored. Those allegations, as well as the strip-search and mental-health complaints, remain against Juvenile Hall.

Attorney Mark I. Soler of San Francisco’s Youth Law Center said he withdrew most of the allegations against the three outlying facilities to streamline a trial that is already behind schedule. And Soler said it is unnecessary to dwell on those facilities because if he succeeds in obtaining a court order that forces a revision of procedures at Juvenile Hall, it would apply throughout the juvenile detention system.

Attorneys defending the county, however, viewed Thursday’s developments as a modest victory.

“From the beginning, we’ve said the allegations are exaggerated and overblown,” said David G. Epstein, a private lawyer. “After three years, now they withdraw most of the allegations pertaining to the three outlying facilities. That’s a partial vindication of our position.”

The county contends that its practices in Juvenile Hall are a legitimate response to the behavior of the unruly and sometimes violent offenders it supervises.