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ByDonThompson The Associated Press SACRAMENTO California's efforts to ease its famously harsh use of solitary con- finement are clashing with a bloody reality after an inmate who spent de- cades alone in a tiny cell was sent back to the gen- eral population and killed by fellow inmates within days. Hugo "Yogi" Pinell's re- peated assaults on guards landed him in solitary con- finement beginning in the early 1970s, making him one of the longest-serving solitary confinement in- mates in the nation, said Keramet Reiter, a Univer- sity of California, Irvine, professor of criminology who studies the issue. His involvement in a bloody 1971 San Quentin escape attempt that left six dead, including three guards, also helped spur the creation of super-max- imum prisons like Pelican Bay State Prison, designed to isolate the most incorri- gible and dangerous crimi- nals and gang leaders, Re- iter said. More recently, the 45 years Pinell spent in segre- gation helped drive the na- tional debate over the iso- lation of prisoners. The is- sue recently drew criticism from both President Barack Obama and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Ken- nedy. Pinell's life behind bars traced the rise of extreme isolation as a prison-man- agement tool from its start to its recent decline, she said. The 71-year-old's death Wednesday in an exercise yard comes as California is trying to settle a fed- eral lawsuit filed in 2009 by two killers who, like Pi- nell, served time in the no- torious Pelican Bay security housing unit on California's North Coast. "When somebody in those circumstances gets out and they're killed within two weeks on the yard, that's just a real blow, symbolically," said Carol Strickman, a staff attor- ney for Legal Services for Prisoners with Children who is involved in the set- tlement talks. Other trans- fers of prisoners from iso- lation to the general popu- lation have gone relatively smoothly, she said, calling for an independent investi- gation of Pinell's death. Pinell was released from segregation because he had no recent gang-related be- havior, corrections depart- ment spokeswoman Terry Thornton said in an email. His last rules violation was in October for refus- ing an order. It was his first violation since 1978, when he was twice found to have been involved in inmate disturbances. Asked if Pinell's death might affect the depart- ment's efforts to lower the number of inmates held in isolation, Thornton said it would depend on the out- come of an investigation. The inmates' lawsuit says that isolating prisoners in 80-square-foot, soundproof, windowless cells for all but about 90 minutes each day amounts to cruel and un- usual punishment. More than 3,000 inmates are in such units statewide, about half of them in solitary con- finement. No other state has kept so many inmates segre- gated for so long, accord- ing to the Center for Consti- tutional Rights, which has represented inmates since 2012. By August 2011, 128 inmates had been isolated for more than 20 years and 723 inmates for more than a decade. But the numbers have fallen dramatically over the last four years as the state released nearly 1,000 inmates, including Pinell, back into the general pop- ulation. PRISON RIOT Sl ay in g ca st s pa ll o n pl an to cut solitary confinement By Fenit Nirappil The Associated Press SACRAMENTO California law enforcement agencies are looking to fly drones as an affordable and effi- cient way to monitor crime scenes, pursue suspects and search for lost hikers. But the capability of the unmanned aircraft to in- trude on private spaces and videotape people from afar has raised major red flags among privacy advocates. California lawmakers will try to strike a balance between protecting civil liberties and aiding crime- fighting when the Legisla- ture reconvenes Monday and faces a Sept. 11 dead- line to pass several bills re- lated to drones. The consideration comes as the use of drones by law enforcement is in its early stages in the country. The Federal Aviation Admin- istration has greenlighted more than 100 agencies to fly unmanned aircraft, in- cluding the Ventura County Sheriff's Office in California. Federal rules focus on air traffic safety, not pri- vacy, prompting some ad- vocates to call on states and courts to fill the gap before drones become widely used, smaller and more advanced. "They have an enormous capacity to intrude upon personal privacy in a way that no technology cur- rently, or in the past, has allowed," said Kevin Baker, a lobbyist for the American Civil Liberties Union. "We want to establish a clear set of guidelines up front." Assemblyman Bill Quirk, D-Hayward, is proposing to set those guidelines with a bill requiring warrants for surveillance operations over private property. In addition, law enforcement agencies would have to de- velop privacy policies and abide by standards for stor- ing and deleting footage. The ACLU, however, la- ments that AB56 doesn't go far enough to restrict sur- veillance in public places and says it should require local elected bodies to ap- prove use of the technology. Law enforcement groups also criticize the bill, say- ing it would present prac- tical problems when sus- pects followed by drones weave through public and private places. "There's a middle ground that nobody likes," Quirk said, stressing that limits must be laid out in law be- fore authorities are able to keep an entire city under surveillance. "We have to be very care- ful about something like that," he said. Gov. Jerry Brown ve- toed legislation last year that would have required a judge's approval for police to conduct some searches with unmanned aircraft and mandated that foot- age be destroyed after a year. Brown said the mea- sure was too restrictive on law enforcement — even though 17 other states re- quire warrants. The California Police Chiefs Association spon- sored competing drone legislation with softer re- quirements for warrants and safeguarding footage. However, SB262 by state Sen. Cathleen Galgiani, D- Stockton, failed to get out of a Senate committee. Alameda County Sher- iff's Sgt. J.D. Nelson ac- knowledged that privacy concerns are valid about drones, including the two quadcopters recently pur- chased by his department. However, other advanced technology has the same potential for abuse — from computer records to re- motely operated bomb squad robots, he said. "No question, drones evoke a certain reaction," Nelson said. "If you misuse drones, you are going to get lambasted by the public. And you should." Authorities say concerns could stem from the use of remotely operated military planes that kill suspected terrorists abroad. While lawmakers try to pre-empt problems with police drones, they are also dealing with the con- sequences of drones inter- fering with firefighting he- licopters and other planes, and aiding neighborhood snoops. Sen. Ted Gaines, R-Rock- lin, and Assemblyman Mike Gatto, D-Glendale, are car- rying bills that would make it a crime to intentionally fly drones over prisons, public schools and near wildfire- fighting helicopters. Two other bills would ex- tend privacy laws that pro- hibit people from snoop- ing around backyards and sending small planes over houses. PRIVACY CONCERNS Legislators to eye police push for use of drones ALEXBRANDON—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS A hexacopter drone is flown in Cordova, Md. The Associated Press YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK Officials say an oak tree limb fell on a tent in the heart of Yosemite National Park killing two young campers. Park spokesman Scott Gediman on Friday morn- ing declined to release the ages or any details about the two, describing them only as under age 18. He also declined to de- scribe the size of the limb, citing a pending investiga- tion. Gediman says the limb fell from a black oak tree at about 5 a.m. Friday in the popular Upper Pines Camp- ground in Yosemite Valley, striking the tent where two minors were sleeping. Ged- iman said the campground is one of the parks most popular with a view of Half Dome. It was either near ca- pacity or full when the tree limb fell. Park Rangers were alerted to the fall by 911 calls from the park. They responded to the camp- ground to provide medical assistance. When rangers arrived, both were dead. 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