Hunger strike at Tehachapi continues

This post has been corrected. See the note at the bottom for details.

A hunger strike continued for a fifth day among inmates in segregation at California's high-security prison at Tehachapi.

The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation reported 181 inmates refused breakfast on Sunday. Department spokeswoman Terry Thornton said 172 of them had missed meals for three days or more. After nine missed meals, prison officials begin medical monitoring of fasting inmates.

The fast began Wednesday within the Security Housing Unit at California Correctional Institution. Inmates in those units spend more than 22 hours a day in isolated cells designed to minimize human contact. The conditions are the subject of a class-action lawsuit against the state prison system, and sparked a series of larger, statewide prison hunger strikes last year.

A second fast started the same day among about 200 inmates at Pelican Bay State Prison near the Oregon border but had ended by Friday, prison officials said.

For the record, 6:23 p.m., Oct. 15: In a previous version of this post, the Californa Correctional Institution was incorrectly referred to as the California Correctional Institute. Also, a reference to a “segregated housing unit” should have said “security housing unit.”

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--Paige St. John in Sacramento