A California law that allows corrections officers to lockdown inmates at the Los Angeles jails based on race is coming under fire.  A spokesperson for the jails said they are overcrowded and that racial tensions run high.  When big fights break out between large groups of inmates of different ethnic backgrounds, all detainees of an ethnicity can be locked down.  This, they say, is done in order to enhance safety.

Several weeks ago, a brawl between more than 60 black and African American inmates broke out at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility.  Four were hospitalized. The jail said that this type of race-based violence can run rampant.  Legal professionals have begun to question the legality of this practice.  A 2011 lawsuit filed by the Prison Law Office has alleged these types of restrictions are unjust and ineffective.  The ACLU has confirmed that California jails are the only ones in the country that implement these types of lockdowns.

Some believe the increase in race-based lockdowns is due to the state's prisoner realignment. Under that program non-serious, non-sexual and non-violent offenders are being transferred from state prisons to county jails to serve out their sentences.    The increased crowding on the county level is contributing to disturbances and riots.

State officials have reportedly said that the lockdowns are only used for as long as it takes them to secure the jail.   Attorneys continue to argue the policy is little more than a shortcut that allows guards to punish inmates based on their skin color.   The matter is ongoing.