Prison officials says Pelican Bay isolation policies will change

California prisons have isolated gang bosses in stark conditions for years, sometimes for decades. But last month’s inmate hunger strike at Pelican Bay State Prison near the Oregon border has prompted a review of the way dangerous inmates are housed. And now a top state prison official has told Sacramento lawmakers to expect changes.

The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation locks up more than 3,000 inmates in Security Housing Units or “SHUs.” They spend nearly 23 hours a day in their cells. Scott Kernan, the corrections undersecretary for operations, told a legislative hearing Wednesday that most of the inmates in the SHU are gang leaders who terrorized other prisoners and staff.  More   PrisonerPal.com   True Crime Today  Magazine Subscriptions for Prisoners since 1975