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Inmates renew hunger strike over high-security units

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Corrections officials confirmed Thursday that more than 4,200 prison inmates across California have launched a new hunger strike to protest conditions in high-security units.

The strike began Monday. As of Thursday, the inmates in eight facilities from Pelican Bay to the Tehachapis had missed eight meals, the Department of Corrections said in a statement. It comes two months after a three-week strike in July, which concluded once prison officials promised to consider improvements in living conditions.

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In its statement, the department said it warned strikers it ‘will not condone organized inmate disturbances.’ It also noted that in May, it began a review of conditions in its Special Housing Unit, where suspected gang members are often confined for years at a time. It said it will allow the sale of ‘watch caps, sweat pants, hobby craft items and wall calendars’ to high-security inmates and authorized annual photographs for Special Housing Unit prisoners with no disciplinary problems.

-Nicholas Riccardi

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