For several hours, as he waited to get booked for petty theft at the Los Angeles County Jail in October, Peter Johnson told deputies he needed to go to the restroom.
Although other inmates were free to use the facilities, Johnson -- a paraplegic -- was told there were none in the area equipped to accommodate the physically disabled. Guards, he said, seemed indifferent to his plight, telling him he simply had to wait.
"We are treated like the worst of the worst because of our disabilities," said Johnson, who ultimately lost control of his bowels and was forced to sit in his own feces for more than six hours.
Johnson, who is still incarcerated, and more than a dozen other disabled inmates complain that the county jail system, by design, discriminates against them.
Simple tasks like taking a shower, getting onto a bunk or using the lavatory become impossible.
A recent study commissioned by the Disability Rights Legal Center and American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California found severe problems with how disabled inmates are treated. The report concluded that the Sheriff's Department was violating the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities.
Lawyers for the two groups say they plan to file a lawsuit against the county today that will seek a court order requiring the jails to comply with anti-discrimination laws.
Logan Hopper, an expert on ADA requirements who conducted the study for the ACLU and disability rights center, reported that during his three-day inspection of the jails he found disabled inmates struggling to overcome physical barriers to toilets, shower stalls and visitor areas.
In his 31-page report, he said the housing areas for disabled inmates had broken plumbing, lacked natural light and had limited access to recreational areas.
"These were the most overcrowded, dreariest and poorest maintained rooms or cells observed," he wrote.
Hopper also said the problems extended beyond poorly equipped facilities. Inmates with disabilities are often precluded from educational and job training programs because those are held in parts of the jail system they cannot access, he said.
Also, Hopper reported that jailers failed to properly classify inmates as having disabilities. Some paralyzed inmates said in sworn declarations that their wheelchairs were confiscated, forcing them to use crutches or crawl around in their cells.
