Lawyers and prisoners using Yelp to review lock-ups

As reported in this new Washington Post piece, headlined "With few other outlets, inmates review prisons on Yelp," one can find more than restaurant reviews on-line these days.   Here are excerpts from this article:

Lawyer Robert Miller has visited five prisons and 17 jails in his lifetime, but he has reviewed only three of them on Yelp. One he found “average,” with inexperienced and power-hungry officers. Another he faulted for its “kind of very firmly rude staff.”  His most recent review, a January critique of Theo Lacy jail in Orange County, Calif., lauds the cleanliness, urban setting and “very nice” deputies.  Miller gave it five out of five stars.

“I started reviewing because I needed something to kill time while I waited to see clients,” said Miller, who has worked as a private defense lawyer in Southern California for 18 years.  “But I think the reviews are actually helpful for bail bondsmen, attorneys, family members — a lot of people, actually.”...

Because Yelp does not break out statistics by business type, it’s difficult to tell how many jails and prisons have been reviewed in the 19 countries covered by the site.  (Yelp declined to comment for this article, aside from noting that users may review any business with a physical address, as long as the review follows site guidelines.)  In the Washington region, six incarceration facilities have earned reviews, including two in 2013....

Accuracy is, of course, a major concern with Yelp reviews of any type, and an especially big one when reviewers make serious complaints.  In June 2012, a reviewer alleged that five guards at the Men’s Central Jail in Los Angeles beat him for no reason and laughed about it afterward. Other reviews of the jail mention rat infestations, violence and racial tensions.

“Every allegation we get, we investigate,” said Stephen Whitmore, spokesman for Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca.  He notes that the jail has also its share of four- and five-star reviews.  “But this Yelp phenomenon I find curious,” Whitmore said. “Jail isn’t a restaurant. It isn’t seeing a movie. You’re doing time for committing a crime.”

Bad reviews aren’t unique to Los Angeles.  In New York, one user wrote that officers pressure inmates going through drug withdrawal to lie about their symptoms, presumably so the jail doesn’t have to provide treatment....

Although some look upon the reviews as weird novelties — “like Lonely Planet for career criminals,” one Buzzfeed post put it — they could reflect serious flaws in the U.S. prison system.  Because of a 1996 law called the Prison Litigation Reform Act, inmates cannot sue over prison conditions until they have “exhausted” administrative procedures, and they can ask for only limited changes to prison policy.  Just a few states, such as Texas and New York, have outside inspectors who watch for abuse within the system....

David Fathi, director of the National Prison Project of the American Civil Liberties Union ... said his group receives 300 to 400 written complaints each month about prison conditions.  That number does not include the phone calls and e-mails the project receives or the complaints addressed to the ACLU’s state branches.  Almost none of those grievances make it to court.  So Yelp reviews, Fathi said, could prove to be pretty powerful.  “Prisons and jails are closed institutions, and the lack of outside scrutiny and oversight sometimes facilitates mistreatment and abuse,” Fathi said.  “So anything that increases public awareness of prison conditions is a positive thing.”

Not all of those reviews are accurate, of course, and many may come from pranksters who don’t care about the travails of prison life.  The reviews also won’t necessarily prompt systemic change — it’s not like a detention center relies on good Yelp reviews for business the way some restaurants and small businesses do.

But Miller, the California lawyer, said the reviews can help educate professionals who work with the prison system and inform the public about the conditions inmates face.  “It helps elevate consciousness of the problems and brings transparency and oversight to a system that isn’t used to being transparent,” Miller said.  “That’s a very valuable tool.”