Judge horrified by crowded LA jail

LOS ANGELES, May 12 (UPI) -- A day after touring Los Angeles's crowded Men's Central Jail, a federal judge agreed to oversee an effort to improve the facility.

Judge Dean Pregerson, saying he was horrified by what he had seen, ordered the American Civil Liberties Union and Sheriff Lee Baca to report in two weeks on progress at the jail, The Los Angeles Times reported.

Pregerson pointed to cells holding twice the number of inmates they were designed for.

"There is not enough room for all six inmates to stand up or take a pace or two," Pregerson said. "There is not enough room to do push-ups or do anything but lay in their bunks and sleep. That is not a situation that I think should be permitted to exist in the future."

Los Angeles, with an average of 18,000 inmates, is the nation's largest jail system. Since 2002, Baca has released 150,000 prisoners early.

After recent riots, the ACLU asked Pregerson, who had been presiding over a lawsuit on jail conditions, to become directly involved.