Nick Reiner’s mental health jail has notoriously inhumane conditions

Nick Reiner is being held in America’s largest mental health jail, which is notorious for its rat-infested and urine-soaked “inhumane” conditions — a far cry from the Brentwood mansion he lived in with his legendary Hollywood parents.

The 32-year-old, who is accused of slaughtering his director dad, Rob Reiner, and his mom, Michele Singer Reiner, appeared in court on Wednesday wearing a blue anti-suicide vest, which is standard issue inside the Twin Towers Correctional Facility.

The hulking downtown jail under state oversight confines more men with serious mental illness than anywhere else in the country, according to inspection reports and court filings.

It is where Los Angeles County sends inmates with the most severe psychiatric illnesses, those deemed too unstable for dorm-style housing, even with medication.

Conditions inside the facility have been repeatedly condemned.

Inmates with serious mental illness are often confined to one- or two-person “high observation” cells, under constant monitoring — sleeping on little more than a thin mattress on a concrete slab, if that.

Many detainees wear the thick blue suicide vests with nothing on underneath. Others remove them because the vests are uncomfortable or because of their mental illness, resulting in men spending more than 23 hours a day in their cells, often naked.

The conditions inside the cells are described as squalid.

County commissioners have repeatedly documented cells with feces smeared on walls, urine leaking beneath doors, graffiti-covered concrete walls, and floors littered with torn cardboard food trays and juice boxes.

In some cases, sheriff’s deputies shut off water to cells when toilets are intentionally flooded — a move that also cuts off access to drinking water, according to inspection findings.

Those conditions are now at the center of a sweeping civil enforcement lawsuit filed this summer by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who accused Los Angeles County, the Sheriff’s Department, and Correctional Health Services of subjecting incarcerated people to “inhumane” and unconstitutional treatment.

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The Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department told The Post it has invested approximately $309 million in custody facility upgrades and operational improvements, including hiring additional custody staff, distributing thermal undergarments, and other infrastructure fixes.

Department officials said they have worked for years to improve jail conditions, particularly at the aging Men’s Central Jail, but acknowledged those efforts amount to temporary patches. 

According to the department, a permanent solution requires replacing Men’s Central Jail with a Correctional Care Center designed to provide adequate programming space, recreational areas, and treatment facilities for medically fragile inmates, people with substance use disorders, and individuals suffering from serious mental illness.

The Attorney General’s lawsuit alleges that Twin Towers is plagued by mold, rust and black worms in showers, as well as rats and other vermin throughout housing units.

Basic hygiene items — including soap, toothbrushes, cleaning kits and cleaning supplies — are often unavailable, making it impossible for inmates to maintain sanitary living conditions, court records show.

Movement within the jail is also hazardous.

According to the complaint and inspection records, elevator malfunctions are so frequent that the Sheriff’s Department has determined it cannot safely offer in-person visitation for people housed at Twin Towers.

The visitor area is accessible only by elevator, and when elevators fail — as they routinely do — visits are canceled entirely.

Healthcare inside the jail is also stretched beyond capacity.

In 2023, approximately 4,000 incarcerated people were on waitlists for medical care, according to the lawsuit.

At one point, just seven psychologists were responsible for treating about 4,500 patients across the entire county jail system — a ratio of roughly one psychologist for every 642 inmates.

Chronic understaffing has also forced sheriff’s deputies to work excessive overtime, with some working 48 to 64 hours per month in 2024, further straining jail operations.

Reiner did not enter a plea on Wednesday. The only words he spoke were a flat “Yes, your honor,” when asked if he would waive his right to a speedy arraignment.

Court records show Reiner remains in custody at Twin Towers as the case moves forward.