PJLC Joins ACLU-Led Brief Demanding Closure of Los Padrinos

The Peace and Justice Law Center (PJLC) has joined an ACLU-led amicus brief urging the Los Angeles County juvenile court to order the immediate closure of Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall, a facility that state regulators have declared unsafe and unlawful for confining children.

For more than a year, youth held at Los Padrinos have been subjected to extreme violence, neglect, and abuse. State inspections and oversight reports document frequent serious injuries, routine use of pepper spray, prolonged isolation, and incidents in which staff stood by while youth were assaulted by other youth. These conditions led the California Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC) to deem the facility legally unsuitable, making it unlawful to continue detaining children there.

Despite this, Los Angeles County continues to hold more than 200 youth at Los Padrinos. Most are presumed innocent, detained pretrial, or held for probation violations or other low-level offenses. Many are released within weeks. Instead of receiving support to help them return safely to their communities, they are exposed to trauma that follows them home and increases, rather than reduces, long-term public safety risks.

PJLC joined the amicus brief to make clear what is at stake. Continued confinement at Los Padrinos is not a “technical” dispute or a policy disagreement. It is a violation of state and federal law that puts children in harm’s way and undermines the rehabilitative purpose of the juvenile legal system. Claims that public safety requires keeping the facility open rely on fear, not evidence, and ignore the reality that traumatizing youth makes communities less safe.

The brief explains that lawful and safer alternatives already exist. Youth can be released to their families with supervision, placed on electronic monitoring when necessary, or transferred to other counties with available capacity. These options are more humane, more effective, and required by law once a facility has been deemed unsuitable.

The case is now before Juvenile Court Judge Miguel Espinoza, who is considering whether to order the transfer of all youth out of Los Padrinos and halt its use unless and until it is brought into compliance. A ruling enforcing the BSCC’s findings would protect the children currently confined there and send a clear message that counties cannot ignore oversight when facilities fail.

This filing reflects PJLC’s broader commitment to reducing youth incarceration and pushing systems toward community-based approaches that support healing, accountability, and long-term safety. We will continue to press for enforcement of the law and for a youth justice system that actually helps young people become healthy, stable members of their communities.