Last month, a federal court order demanded that the state move from the Central Valley 2,600 inmates at risk of contracting coccidioidomycosis, or valley fever — a potentially lethal disease. The state had resisted the move, saying it could cause race riots in the prisons. California is also facing a separate federal lawsuit charging that it segregates prisoners by race.
State legislators called for an investigation last week after a news report that prison officials had pressured dozens of women to be sterilized in the last decade. And on Thursday, a federal judge ruled that the state was not providing adequate medical care for inmates — including basics like access to clean water.
Jeffrey Beard, the state corrections commissioner, said that the hunger strike was simply a sign of how powerful the prison gangs are and dismissed the notion that it indicated deeper problems.
“This isn’t something that came from a bunch of other people. It is guided by a few gang leaders who have enormous control,” Mr. Beard said. “It’s an opportunity inmates will often take to raise concerns they have. I don’t think that’s unusual, and I don’t think that it is part of a bigger issue.”