Segregation

Patterico (here and here) discusses a vexing issue: segregation of inmates by race in prison. Obviously, dividing people up by race has to be the absolute last resort in any situation. As a result, I’d like to believe that this is unnecessary and should be stopped, but as Patterico points out, when you are talking about how to safely house a population of violent convicted criminals, many of them virulently racist (at least, enough of them to cause serious trouble) and belonging to race-specific gangs, you’re already running pretty low on palatable options, and at some point the question becomes how many people you’re willing to see get stuck with a shiv to preserve your principles.
As a general rule, it’s easier for the peace of mind, and the principles, of civilized people not to think too much about what goes on in prison, and like most people I prefer not to think much about it. But as a consequence, I’d have a hard time criticizing this practice without having walked in the shoes of the people who have to keep order.