Private prison in Holdenville locked down amid racial tension

HOLDENVILLE, Okla. (AP) -- Racial tension among inmates has forced authorities to lock down a private prison in Holdenville.<br/><br/>Steve Owen, spokesman for the Corrections Corporation of America, says

Thursday, June 23rd 2005, 6:25 am

By: News On 6

HOLDENVILLE, Okla. (AP) -- Racial tension among inmates has forced authorities to lock down a private prison in Holdenville.

Steve Owen, spokesman for the Corrections Corporation of America, says the lockdown, which began Saturday, was spurred by fistfights at the Davis Correctional Facility.

Officials in both public and private prisons are paying closer attention to potential racial problems in the wake of riots and fights across Oklahoma in the past few months.

The largest recent incident was a riot at the Cimarron Correctional Facility. Seven inmates have been charged with murder for the stabbing death of an inmate, Adam Lippert.

As many as 65 prisoners in two gangs fought March 22 in a recreational area of the Cushing prison.