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L.A. Now Live: The latest on California’s prisoner protest

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Ten California inmates have been placed under medical observation as tens of thousands of others refused meals for a second day in a mass protest at the state’s prisons.

The 10 were being watched by prison medical staff for signs of distress, said the federal monitor in charge of inmate healthcare.

Join us at 9 a.m. as we talk with Times reporter Paige St. John about what prisoners hope to accomplish with their protest and how authorities are handling the situation.

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Documents: Hunger strike inmate demands

Inmates have issued a handwritten letter spelling out their demands for improved prison conditions, including cleaner facilities, better food and more access to the prison library. It is one of at least eight demand letters that California prison officials had in hand as about 29,000 inmates -- a slight decline from 30,000 Monday -- refused meals Tuesday.

The protest was organized by inmates in California’s tightest security units at the state’s most isolated prison, Pelican Bay, near the Oregon border. Since January, they have used a network of family members and inmate advocacy groups to spread their call to action.

The protest centers on California’s continued use of solitary confinement for indefinite periods -- some inmates stay there for decades. Those conditions are also the subject of a lawsuit in federal court.

Protest participants at nearly two-thirds of the state’s 33 prisons added their own objections.

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