A couple of interesting things in California:
New Execution Chamber Infuriates Lawmakers (there's a reason why beyond the death penalty position)
California's prison system is set up for 100,000 inmates and it now has 173,000 inmates. Needless to say, California has an overcrowding problem (as do other states).
I've been to a minimum security prison when I was in vet school (in Taylorsville, IL if I remember correctly). It had a dairy herd and we went there to palpate the dairy cows when I was on my amubulatory rotation. It was really interesting. Of course we brought sharp objects with us (needles, scalpel blades) and they had to account for everything but overall all of the inmates who worked in the dairy were quite friendly. Of course it was minimum security.
