Californi-segregation

This Sacramento Bee editorial suggests that the problem with California's prison segregation policy may simply be a technological one:

Corrections told the court it applies a blanket policy of housing inmates with members of their own race because prison officials have "only limited information" on inmates. "If the officials had all the necessary information to assess the inmates' violence potential when the inmates arrived, perhaps a different practice could be used," the department said.

In the computer age, criminal histories, local jail records and previous state prison records (including known gang affiliations and threats or incidents of racial violence) should be available at the touch of a key. Yet Corrections says this information typically does not arrive at reception centers in time to make cell assignments. Why not?

Corrections has an inefficient information system that relies primarily on paper records hand-delivered from place to place. A comprehensive, integrated information system should be a top priority for immediate change.