LA County’s Board of Supervisors took a first step toward spending $2 billion on new jails yesterday, but what can they do about treating mentally ill offenders? Also, complaints of abuse and violence at the U.S.-Mexico border are on the rise. We speak to L.A. chef and brand new James Beard Award-winner Nancy Silverton, and to a music writer and DJ about the mysterious Nigerian musician William Onyeabor. Finally, a story that’s stranger than fiction: the tale of Bernie Tiede, a murderer who became the subject of a 2011 movie and has now been released from prison to live in the garage apartment of director Richard Linklater.
Banner Image: A handcuffed woman sits after arriving at the Los Angeles County Women's jail in Lynwood, California April 26, 2013. The Second Chance Women's Re-entry Court is one of the first in the U.S. to focus on women, and offers a cost-saving alternative to prison for women who plead guilty to non-violent crimes and volunteer for treatment. Of the 297 women who have been through the court since 2007, 100 have graduated, and only 35 have been returned to state prison. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson