Judge Orders OC Sheriff To Reduce Jail Population By 50% Due To Pandemic

SANTA ANA (CBSLA) — The Orange County Superior Court Friday ordered Sheriff Don Barnes to reduce jail populations by 50% in an effort to prevent further spread of COVID-19.

“We are evaluating the order, its impacts and our options for appeal,” Barnes said in a statement. “If the order stands, it will result in the release of more than 1,800 inmates.

The decision was made in response to a lawsuit filed in April by the American Civil Liberties Union in an effort to “protect medically vulnerable people and people with disabilities detained at the Orange County Jail.”

The lawsuit alleged that all of those detained were at “imminent risk of serious illness or death from COVID-19.”

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