Black Inmates Hurt in Riots Sue Sheriff’s Department

A civil rights attorney sued the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department on Wednesday on behalf of 39 African American inmates who were injured in jailhouse rioting last year.

The lawsuit alleges that sheriff’s deputies failed to take appropriate action to prevent the violence that erupted last spring at the Pitchess Detention Center in Castaic. Jail officials allowed black inmates in the jail dorm to be outnumbered by Latinos despite ongoing tensions between the two groups, the suit alleges.

The inmates, all of whom were injured in the rioting, are seeking $1 million each in compensatory damages and $1 million each in punitive damages, according to Venice attorney Steve Yagman, who filed the suit.

Those inmates were among hundreds involved in two days of rioting. One black inmate was critically injured.

The Sheriff’s Department had no comment on the lawsuit because officials had not yet seen it, according to Capt. Ray Leyva, a sheriff’s spokesman.

But sheriff’s officials said at the time that they simply had far fewer black inmates than Latinos. Officials segregated the two groups following the disturbances, but viewed that as a short-term fix.

Shortly after the riots, Sheriff Lee Baca asked several community groups and others to develop programs for inmates aimed at reducing tensions.

Baca is a proponent of classes and other programs for inmates on the theory that busy inmates won’t have time or energy for fighting.

A similar lawsuit was filed last year on behalf of 273 inmates involved in the rioting. It was unclear Wednesday where that suit stands.