Did Prison Officials Violate State Law?

Fifty years ago, forced sterilization of prisoners, the mentally ill and the poor was common in California. The legislature banned the practice in 1979, but as recently as 2010 former inmates and staff workers say, almost 250 women were given sterilization procedures in state prisons without official approval. That's according to Corey Johnson, who writes about money and politics for the Center for Investigative Reporting. We speak with him, and with Joyce Hayhoe, Director of Legislation and Communications for the California Prison Health Care Receivership Corporation, set up by a federal court to improve the medical system in California prisons.