Cali to Move Thousands Out of Solitary

A legal settlement in California announced Tuesday details the end of solitary confinement being used at Pelican Bay State Prison to control prison gangs. Several thousand inmates at the facility who were held alone had either been in solitary for at least a decade or had gone at least two years without a major violation. The state, responding to years of hunger strikes and litigation, has decided instead to create small high-security units that put its most dangerous prisoners in a group where they get some of the same perks as other prisoners. Solitary confinement will still be used for prisoners who commit crimes while in jail.