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August 11, 2009

Overcrowding Blamed for Prison Riot in California
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Prison watchdog groups are blaming Saturday’s prison riot in California
on overcrowding. Two hundred prisoners were injured, including over
fifty seriously, during a four-hour riot at the California Institution
for Men in Chino. The prison was designed to hold 3,000 men, but the
state was housing nearly twice that number. For years, California
officials have ignored warnings about prison overcrowding. Two years
ago, a prison expert warned that the prison in Chino was a “serious
disturbance waiting to happen.” Some state prisons in California are at
nearly 300 percent of intended capacity.



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