Riverside County is facing a major legal challenge as investigative reporter Christopher Damien and the First Amendment Coalition sue the Sheriff's Department for withholding public records related to inmate deaths. The County Jails have been cited as among the deadliest in the nation, making the public access to these records crucial for oversight.
California law, specifically SB 519 (passed in 2024), mandates that jail death records, including investigative reports, videos, and photographs, must be released to the public or press within 45 days of a request. Damien’s requests, submitted nearly a year ago, have been repeatedly denied. The Sheriff's Department has dismissed the legal action as an "illegitimate request and a biased attack by the media."
Legal expert Walter Clark noted that the current litigation is not the first instance of problems; the federal government sued Riverside County in 2015 over a failure to provide adequate medical care, which resulted in a court-ordered consent decree. Clark highlighted another recent lawsuit by a family of a detainee who was severely beaten and died after being allegedly refused medical attention in custody, emphasizing the need for transparency.
Clark stressed that the public has a right to this information to ensure governmental agencies are operating with "sanity," and that the ongoing stonewalling by the Sheriff’s Department, who controls the records, makes judicial intervention necessary to ensure compliance with the law.
By: NBC Palm Springs
December 12, 2025
