California Prisons Begin ‘Use-of-Force’ Reforms for Mentally Ill Inmates [Blogs.KQED.org]

The number of inmates with mild to severe mental illness has grown to 37,000 in California, about a quarter of the prison population.

A series of lawsuits brought by inmates against the state over the last two decades has exposed a correctional system poorly equipped to handle their extraordinary needs.

Now California is trying to comply with a federal court order to change when and how correctional officers use pepper spray to force uncooperative inmates to leave their cells or follow orders.

[For more of this story, written by Julie Small, go to http://blogs.kqed.org/stateofh...entally-ill-inmates/]