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You can find plenty of tacky souvenirs in Los Angeles from plastic Oscar statues to overpriced star maps, but this T-shirt we spotted at the Farmers Market over the weekend has got to be one of the worst. For $6.99 (or $24.99 for a family pack!), you can have an orange T-shirt that says "Los Angeles County Jail."
Sure, most T-shirts sold at tourist shops are pretty stupid and aren't known for their nuanced take on the local culture. And it's one thing to make a joke about how you had some sort of Hangover-esque adventure in Vegas. But this shirt? We gotta say it's just TOO SOON.
There have long been rumors, reports and lawsuits claiming that inmates were beaten up by deputies—sometimes for no reason—and the guys on top were OK with this. In fact just this week a jury decided that Sheriff Lee Baca was liable in the case of a man who was tased, beaten with flashlights, fists and kicked for no apparent reason (Baca said he'd appeal the case).
Not that tourists are paying attention to any of that.
