WALTER RUSSELL MEAD: California’s Prison Nightmare.

Speaking of failed states, California’s prison system is dysfunctional and broken. Earlier this year, a Federal Appeals Court found that the state had yet to comply with the Supreme Court’s 2011 ruling that conditions in its prison system amount to “cruel and unusual punishment.” The three-judge Appeals Court panel issued a stern rebuke to Governor Jerry Brown, threatening to hold him in contempt if he doesn’t begin to make serious progress towards resolving funding and overcrowding issues in the state’s prison system.

Stories like these aren’t helping Governor Brown’s case: The Center for Investigative Reporting has revealed that doctors for the prison system coerced female prisoners into being sterilized. According to the report, nearly 150 inmates at two women’s prisons were illegally pressured into having the operation between 1997 and 2010. Staff reportedly targeted repeat offenders and women likely to return to jail in a rather gruesome ploy to cut future medical expenses due to prison pregnancies.

Meanwhile, at least 30,000 inmates began a hunger strike yesterday, demanding an end to solitary confinement policies that allow California to keep suspected gang members isolated for decades without the right to have their case reviewed. The hunger strike is meant to show support for ten inmates at the Pelican Bay State Prison who have filed suit against California and are currently seeking class-action status.

While that case will have to be decided on its merits, both stories are further evidence of breakdowns in governance. Enforcing the laws and properly punishing criminals are among the most basic functions of government. It’s hard to see California as anything but another failed state if it is failing these fundamental tests.

Indeed. They told me if I voted for Mitt Romney, we’d see government running roughshod over women’s reproductive autonomy. And they were right!