Class-Action Suit Challenges California’s Race-Based Prison Segregation Policy
The California prison system is under fire for their race-based system of segregation.
In some prisons, Jim Crow-like signs hang above the doors: “blue for black inmates, white for white, red, green or pink for Hispanic, yellow for everyone else.”
Prison officials say the system is necessary to deal with race-based violence.
“When prisoners attack guards or other inmates, California allows its corrections officers to restrict all prisoners of that same race or ethnicity to prevent further violence,” the article says. “Prison officials have said such moves can be necessary in a system plagued by some of the worst race-based gang violence in the country.”
But others are saying it is discriminatory and have filed a federal class-action lawsuit. In response to the lawsuit, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation wrote the labels “provide visual cues that allow prison officials to prevent race-based victimization, reduce race-based violence, and prevent thefts and assaults.”
Should this policy be banned?
Is race-based violence an excuse for a policy of segregation?
Sound off below!
