The allegations were straight out of Oliver Twist: Teens said there were maggots in the food — and barely enough of it. The youths wore threadbare and filthy clothing. They lacked soap, toothpaste, deodorant, socks. The medical care was lousy, toilets overflowed and the buildings were crumbling. Officers choked and punched them.
For discipline and diversion, workers organized fights among the detainees. And sometimes they bet on them.
The delinquent boys came and went. But Palm Beach Juvenile Correctional Facility remained.