Two prisons in the Sierra Nevada foothills will be the first to implement a racially integrated housing policy after a court settlement. Officials said this week that the Sierra Conservation Center in Jamestown and Mule Creek State Prison in Ione will stop considering race when making cell and bunk assignments this month. All 30 male prisons are scheduled to comply by 2010. In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court said California's unwritten policy of segregating inmates by race in their cells needed to be reviewed by an appellate court. A settlement later created a policy mandating that prison staff fill open bunks regardless of race or ethnicity. The changeover was supposed to begin July 1, but has been delayed by discussions with employee unions and concerns over possible violence. The women's prison system is already integrated.
Monday, 28 July 2008 08:39
Mule Creek Prison To Enforce Desegregation
Two prisons in the Sierra Nevada foothills will be the first to implement a racially integrated housing policy after a court settlement. Officials said this week that the Sierra Conservation Center in Jamestown and Mule Creek State Prison in Ione will stop considering race when making cell and bunk assignments this month. All 30 male prisons are scheduled to comply by 2010. In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court said California's unwritten policy of segregating inmates by race in their cells needed to be reviewed by an appellate court. A settlement later created a policy mandating that prison staff fill open bunks regardless of race or ethnicity. The changeover was supposed to begin July 1, but has been delayed by discussions with employee unions and concerns over possible violence. The women's prison system is already integrated.
