It’s recreation time at a Los Angeles County jail known as the Twin Towers. Nearly a dozen disheveled young men stand docilely as they munch on sandwiches out of brown paper bags.

They’re half-naked except for sleeveless, thick, blanket-like restraints wrapped around them like medieval garments. All are chained and handcuffed to shiny metal tables bolted to the floor.

“It’s lunchtime and they’re actually [in] programming right now,” says a veteran guard, LA County Sheriff’s Deputy Myron Trimble.

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