California takes prison lesson from Texas

Yes, that is hard to believe, right? But it is… on prison integration.

And, I did not know Cali segregated prisoners,

But, that’s about to change .

California officials think it will be good in the long run; both black and white inmates, for the most part, think it will increase racial tensions. Here’s a ray of hope, from Texas:

Race has long been a factor when sorting and classifying prisoners, said Chad Trulson, associate professor of criminal justice at the University of North Texas.

Today, most cells are segregated, he said, but several inmate lawsuits have brought about changes to these unofficial policies. That was the case in Texas, which once housed members of different races in separate prisons. A suit prompted integration of the prisons in the late 1970s, and the policy was extended to individual cells nearly a decade later.

Trulson, who studied the aftermath of Texas's integration and is now advising California officials, said violence spiked initially but then subsided.

“Over the next decade and beyond, what we found is that violence among integrated cell partners was no more likely than violence among cell partners who were segregated by race,” he said.

On the other side, California has overcrowding Texas didn’t, and a larger prison gang population.