Reporting From Inside the Santa Clara County Jail – The Same Conditions We Sued the County Over Seven Years Ago Still Persist Today

Due to the Santa Clara County jail not providing adequate healthcare for the detained, they are currently facing a “contempt motion” for being out of compliance of a federal consent decree. The consent decree was the result of the county trying to resolve a lawsuit (Chavez vs. Santa Clara County) over inhumane conditions brought on by those detained. But seven years later, the issues persist. Community organizer and advocate Rudy Cuevas reports from inside the Elmwood Correctional Facility.

The environment within these jails remains problematic. We currently face an issue where the ratio of correctional staff to inmates is not where it should be. Speedy hiring simply to fill a void is a red flag that only contributes to rushed and improper training. This leads to a type of environment—characterized by corruption, scandals, and hostility—where officers possess an "us vs. them" mentality. Furthermore, mental health patients are being mistreated, mishandled, inappropriately housed, and subjected to abuse from officers who even admit to a lack of proper training necessary to handle such patients. Mental health is a medical condition, not something to be exploited or abused for job security in this deep, dark, and corrupted system.

There is absolutely no reason to hire more correctional staff here in Santa Clara County. As I sit here in the Elmwood Correctional Facility, I see the very same disparities that plagued this place prior to the Racial Justice Act (RJA) and the Chavez lawsuit (Chavez v. County of Santa Clara, N.D. Cal. No. 1:15-CV-05277-RM1). Individuals are still being held on trumped-up charges. For instance, there is a man here that is facing a "third strike" sentence of 25 years to life for a petty theft valued at less than $100.00 because a racist loss prevention worker from Home Depot —who used derogatory terms and called him a “wetback”—accused him of having a gun, which the police found to be untrue upon his arrest. There is no reason for this man to be in custody fighting such an outrageous case.

I was recently on a $200,000 bond for an alleged felony where no one was hurt. While released, I was running my nonprofit, giving back to the community, and acting as a full-time student. However, my bail was revoked due to assumptions of my past and other racial biases. I now sit in this jail fighting a third strike, and I will continue to sit here as a pretrial detainee for as many years as they would hold me. I should be fighting my case from home and giving back to my community through my nonprofit, as I was doing both prior to my bond being revoked and while I was previously released on that bond. During that time, I held back-to-school fundraisers, assisted in the victorious release of Mr. Hugo Chavez (who served 13 years of a 105-years-to-life sentence due to a wrongful conviction), and organized toy drives for children.

It is time that we remove the racist targeting and incarceration of our Black and Brown brothers and sisters. Correctional officers brag about their new Tasers and how their hiring rate is climbing. In recent months, the Sheriff’s Office has been focused solely on obtaining the rights to possess these Tasers on the taxpayers' account. I spoke out against the Taser pilot program in the county jail during a Board of Supervisors meeting. Those lieutenants and sheriffs were definitely not talking about the harsh reality where low-level correctional officers say, "Give me a reason to use this Taser” inside here.

It is time that we stand up in unity for our brothers and sisters behind the walls and push for equal justice for all. We must demand the release of pretrial detainees and those who are entitled to it per the U.S. Constitution's 8th Amendment. ¡Si se puede! While Santa Clara County faces contempt of court relating to the Chavez lawsuit, it is clear they continue to push back and mock our gente’s efforts in making change for the rights of all raza and neighboring ethnicities. I am innocent until proven guilty. Free the people!

A System Down, 

Rudy Cuevas 

Pretrial Detainee