CA: Race-based prison policy under scrutiny

• A Los Angeles legislator calls for a review of the practice of segregating inmates.

A policy of racially segregating prisoners is under fire this week as state leaders scrutinize its value in protecting inmates from the race-based gangs that rule California's 32 prisons.California Senate Majority Leader Gloria Romero, D- Los Angeles, Thursday announced plans for a Senate Select Committee hearing next week on the policy and allegations that state officials went to the United States Supreme Court and lied about its racial segregation practices. Department of Corrections leaders and California Attorney General Bill Lockyer will testify in defense of the policy alongside critics who say the policy empowers prison gangs and violates the Constitution. A spokesman for Lockyer denied ever misleading the court. In November, the California attorney general's office went to the high court to defend the state Department of Corrections' unwritten 100-year-old policy of segregating prisoners by raceduring the first two months of their sentence. New inmates initially are segregated to determine their propensity for racial violence, Lockyer told the court. The court is expected to rule on the matter this year. However, Gov. Schwarzenegger and corrections department leaders should consider abolishing the policy regardless of the court's ruling, Romero said Thursday. [