SACRAMENTO —  California authorities won court approval on Monday, Aug. 19, to force-feed some prisoners on a hunger strike, after officials voiced concerns that inmates may have been coerced into refusing food in a protest against the state’s solitary confinement policies.

U.S. District Court Judge Thelton E. Henderson, responding to a request by state authorities, ruled that California prison doctors may force-feed select inmates near death, even if they had previously signed orders, asking not to be resuscitated.

Some 136 California inmates are currently taking part in a hunger strike that began July 8 in prisons statewide to demand an end to a policy of housing inmates, believed to be associated with gangs, in near-isolation for years. Some 69 of the striking inmates have refused food continuously since the strike began.

Prior to the judge’s decision on Aug. 19, California policy prohibited force-feeding of inmates on a hunger strike if they had signed medical orders, refusing resuscitation in the event they lost consciousness or experienced heart failure.

But officials went to court to seek permission to ignore these “do-not-resuscitate” orders for inmates who signed them during the hunger strike or just prior to it, citing concerns about possible coercion from gang leaders.