Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

You can read numerous books and articles about it for an education, with claims by critics and defenders.

In general, prisons have a societal duty to not knowingly harm prisoners [beat, starve, etc] , nor knowingly place prisoners in 'unusual danger'. Emphasis 'unusual'. But, prison are known to be overcrowded, unsafe, dangerous places, with dangerous, violent, deranged, psychotic, evil and difficult to control convicts and gangs. That behavior is why convicts are there instead of walking the streets. The 'safest' prisons hold convicts in 'solitary' isolation, but that results in mental damage. There is no 'safe' in this system.

Prisons can be sued on claims they willfully failed their duty to avoid harm. The burden of proof in any such legal claim is high.

And, without trying to be 'cute' or harsh, the old saying always applies, "If you can't do the time, don't do the crime".

People hire attorneys to try to avoid conviction and prison time, for a reason.