Report by Student Zweng Helps Open Door to Detention Facility Improvements
In early 2008, the conditions at Pinal County Jail in Florence, Arizona hit a new low, with female detainees writing impassioned accounts of egregious rights violations in letters to the UC Davis Immigration Law Clinic (ILC). In the letters, the women discussed their situations, their needs, and the injustices with which they were forced to live every day. Jessica Zweng '09, who worked with the ILC, took on the daunting task of drafting a succinct yet powerful summary report that catalogued these complaints and highlighted the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Detention Standards that each alleged condition violated.
Around the same time, the Los Angeles firm of Latham & Watkins LLP, as part of their participation in the American Bar Association (ABA) Detention Standards Implementation Initiative, was looking to explore the conditions in various detention facilities. The ILC successfully pushed for Latham's list to include Pinal County Jail.
Latham & Watkins has secured access to the Pinal County Jail and will likely tour the jail sometime this year, using Zweng's summary report to help prepare for their visit. The report was also given to other local groups, including the Arizona chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. According to Professor Raha Jorjani, the ILC hopes that some of the conditions at the jail have improved since Zweng's report was first drafted and that, with the help of the ABA and other programs, further improvements will be made in the near future.
Detention Standards Initiative