Stakes Are High in Jail’s Game of Chance

I don’t mean to diminish the suffering and humiliation of inmates at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, but they’re lucky they weren’t locked up in L.A. County Jail.

Five inmates have been murdered in downtown L.A. detention facilities since October. In one case, an accused murderer managed to leave his cell and wander around like he owned the place.

I don’t know if guards were watching “Survivor,” making popcorn, or playing Parcheesi. But this inmate roamed the killing fields for hours until he eventually tracked down a witness against him -- a witness who was supposed to be enjoying the benefits of protective custody.

Fat chance. As the victim slept, his alleged killer walked into the cell, ordered other inmates to turn away, and silenced the witness forever more.

In a sixth case at County Jail, a former Nazi Low Rider survived a razor attack that left him with more stitches than an Amish quilt. The inmate told The Times:

“I’m a big guy, I’m a bad guy. I was scared for my life.”

You know things are out of hand when a Nazi Low Rider is trembling.

Whether the murder and mayhem are the result of lousy leadership by Sheriff Lee Baca, or the effect of severe budget cuts, is open to debate.

I’d say it’s a little of both.

Baca could do us all a favor and spend less time campaigning for a half-cent sales tax increase and slot machines to fund law enforcement, and more time running a jail operation that would embarrass even Donald Rumsfeld.

But on the other hand, he’s stuck baby-sitting unruly gangs of suspected killers, dope fiends and illegal immigrants. If we keep electing politicians on promises we’ll never pay a nickel more in taxes, and the feds keep stiffing the state, and the state keeps stiffing the counties and cities, we can’t expect great schools and tidy jails.

By chance, I had called Baca and arranged a jail visit before the news of murderers’ row broke this week, so I kept my appointment Thursday morning.

I had wanted to watch inmates queue up for early release, so I got a tour of the Inmate Reception Center on Bauchet Street. In another controversial move, Baca is setting lesser criminals free after they’ve served just 10% of their sentences. He says overcrowding, along with budget and staffing cuts, give him no choice.

True facts, or political ploy to stave off more cuts?

Once again, a little of both.

Local justice is a roll of the dice: Get out of jail free. Or leave in a coffin.

My tour of the release area was uneventful. A 24-year-old inmate was beaten to death there last December and dumped near a toilet, but nobody got iced while I was there.

Back outside, I set up near the exit, waiting to chat with inmates walking free on early release. It took an hour or so, but there was plenty going on in the meantime.

First off, cabbies seemed rather chipper, so I asked what was up. Business is booming since Baca’s early release kicked in, said taxi hack Domingo Vasquez.

“They used to come out this door a few at a time every three or four hours,” said Vasquez. “Now it’s every couple of hours, 10, 15, 20 people.”

But while cabbies were happy, bail bondsmen were grousing.

“Early release is really affecting our business,” griped Tony of Bad Boys Bail Bonds. “People are coming here now to turn themselves in. They want to get that 10% deal and get cleared, and they don’t need bail anymore.”

Not to mention that early release puts more bad boys on the street, leaves the public vulnerable and erodes police morale.

At 12:30 p.m., about two dozen inmates squinted into the sunlight and hailed cabs, called relatives, or walked to freedom. Several told me they’d heard about the cellblock killings and were relieved to get out with their lives. And early, to boot.

Chris Young said he did nine days on a 90-day sentence for driving under the influence.

Not a bad deal.

Mike Corbett said he did five and a half days of a 60-day sentence for possession of a concealed weapon (brass knuckles). He wore a T-shirt that said, “Roll it, light it, toke it,” so I’m going to go out on a limb and predict he might be back.

One free man, Manuel, told me he served nine days of a 45-day sentence for drunk driving.

You legal? I asked.

No, he said.

Did you have a license?

No.

Did you have car insurance?

No.

So a witness who agrees to testify against a suspected killer gets throttled, and another guy who breaks 19 different laws gets a week of free meals.

No wonder we can’t get it right in Baghdad.

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Steve Lopez writes Sunday, Wednesday and Friday. Reach him at steve.lopez@latimes.com and read previous columns at www.latimes.com/lopez