Second Los Angeles prison riot blamed on racial tensions News
Second Los Angeles prison riot blamed on racial tensions

[JURIST] Rival black and Hispanic gangs took part in another racially motivated brawl late Monday evening at a Los Angeles County jail dorm, in a repeat of a similar brawl [JURIST report] last weekend which killed one inmate and injured more than 100 others. Sheriff Lee Baca [official profile] segregated roughly 90 inmates at the minimum security Pitchess Detention Center [official website] in an effort to curb violence that he attributed to gang rivalries, prison overcrowding, and too few guards.

The US Supreme Court ruled last year in Johnson v. California [opinion] that state prisons cannot temporarily segregate inmates by race [JURIST report], except in the most extraordinary circumstances. Baca has said that inmates will remain segregated to keep prisoners from acting on gang rivalries. Baca also put the prison on partial lockdown, curbing certain privileges such as television, while allowing inmates to come and go to court and receive visitors. AP has more.

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