Experts who studied the lives of juvenile inmates in charge of the California Youth Authority released reports showing a system in worse shape the most outsiders could have imagined. The state subjects its charges to the harshest punishments of any juvenile detention system nationwide, leaving teenagers confined in steel-mesh cages when guards aren't prying them from their cells with mace and tear gas. As horrifying as the reports are, they are consistent with the state's …showed first 75 words of 414 total…

…showed last 75 words of 414 total…corruption in California prisons since the early '9s, reaching the conclusion that the state leaders have been incapable of reining in the chaos and corruption that so obviously threaten public safety. Henderson has the authority to take over the state prison system- appointing a director to manage its personnel and oversight; he will have to use that authority if the new administration's efforts fail. We hope, against the evidence of history that they succeed.