Findings Letter Commonwealth Puerto Rico Findings Letter Share [image] The Honorable Pedro J. Rossello Governor Commonwealth of Puerto Rico La Fortaleza San Juan, Puerto Rico 00901 Re: Investigation of Juvenile Facilities in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico Dear Governor Rossello: I am writing in reference to our ongoing investigation into conditions within juvenile facilities in Puerto Rico pursuant to the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act ("CRIPA"), 42 U.S.C. §1997 et seq. As you know, we notified your predecessor in December 1992 of unconstitutional conditions in seven Commonwealth facilities -- the Juvenile Detention Center of San Juan in Hato Rey, the Industrial School of Mayaguez, the Juvenile Detention Center of Ponce (now a training center called "LaVictoria"), the Center for Social Treatment of Ponce, the Industrial School for Boys and Girls in Ponce, the Juvenile Detention Center in Humacao, and the Central Treatment Center in Guaynabo. We notified then Governor Hernandez-Colon of fire safety hazards in all of the above-mentioned facilities. In addition, we notified Governor Hernandez-Colon that in all facilities except the Central Treatment Center in Guaynabo, unconstitutional conditions included: lack of adequate medical care and mental health services; the presence of unsanitary and unsafe conditions throughout the facilities; the absence of sufficient beds and/or mattresses for juveniles to sleep on; the lack of proper mechanisms to identify, investigate, and implement remedial measures, if necessary, regarding abuse of juveniles and sufficient security measures to control institutional violence among juveniles; and the absence of constitutionally-required periods of exercise. In May and June of this year, we re-toured all of the above-named facilities (except, of course, the facility in Hato Rey, which was closed in April 1994). In May and June, we also toured a detention center that did not exist when we conducted our earlier tours, the Cabo Rojo Detention Center, as well as the facility to which the Hato Rey juveniles were transferred, Centro Juvenil Metropolitano in Bayamon. Consistent with the requirements of CRIPA, we now write to advise you of our further findings, the facts supporting our determination of constitutional and legal violations, and the necessary remedial measures to correct these violations with respect to the Cabo Rojo Detention Center and additional problems at other facilities not covered by our previous letter which implicate the constitutional and legal rights of confined juveniles. I. LEGAL FRAMEWORK A. CRIPA CRIPA gives the Department of Justice standing to bring actions against facilities such as Commonwealth juvenile facilities over "rights, privileges, or immunities protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States ..." CRIPA § 3, 42 U.S.C. § 1997a (emphasis added). Hence, CRIPA authorizes suit for violation of federal statutes and regulations as well as for constitutional violations. B. Juvenile Detainee Constitutional Rights 1. Substantive Due Process Juveniles in custody have a constitutional right to adequate basic care, medical care, and protection from harm. Youngberg v. Romeo, 457 U.S. 307 (1982). Courts recognize that there are clear differences between the rights of juveniles held in custody and the rights of incarcerated adults. Conditions of confinement for youth in custody -- who have not been convicted of a crime -- are governed by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, and not the less protective Eighth Amendment. Santana v. Collazo, 714 F.2d 1172, 1179 (1st Cir. 1983), cert. denied, 466 U.S. 974 (1984); see also Gary H. v. Hegstrom, 831 F.2d 1430, 1432 (9th Cir. 1987); H.C. by Hewett v. Jarrard, 786 F.2d 1080, 1084-85 (11th Cir. 1986); Milonas v. Williams, 691 F.2d 931, 942 & n.10 (10th Cir. 1982), cert. denied, 460 U.S. 1069 (1983). (1) 2. Equal Protection Incarcerated juveniles do not lose their rights to equal protec
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