Central California Women's Facility

The U.S. Justice Department is investigating whether California and Maine violate female inmates’ rights by housing them with transgender women. Officials say in a Thursday press release the Civil Rights Division is examining two women’s prisons in California and the Maine Correctional Center.

In California, where inmates manufacture glasses for Medi-Cal, enrollees and providers can wait months for their orders. Now, state lawmakers are considering allowing clinics to order from private labs as well.

Through an innovative program at the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla, inmates co-design and maintain their own gardens.

Aminah Elster is the policy coordinator at the California Coalition for Women Prisoners and a formerly incarcerated person. She says the women inside the…

There’s a garden in Chowchilla off of Road 22 that’s surrounded by miles of farmland. Only women tend to this garden. There are wildflowers, succulents,…