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NorCal Prison Will Be First With Integrated Cells

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Jul 23, 2008 3:40 pm US/Pacific

NorCal Prison Will Be First With Integrated Cells

JAMESTOWN (AP) ―

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Two prisons in the Sierra Nevada foothills will be the first to implement a new, racially integrated housing policy following a court settlement.

Officials said Wednesday the Sierra Conservation Center in Jamestown and Mule Creek State Prison in Ione will stop considering race while 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 new 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 already is integrated.