CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : SACRAMENTO : Convicts Plug Toilets to Vent Frustrations

Inmates at Folsom Prison take out their frustrations by stopping up prison toilets with bed sheets or anything else they can get their hands on, state water officials said Friday. As a result, raw sewage from the prison overflows into the nearby American River. The Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board issued a cleanup and abatement order at its meeting Friday, telling prison authorities to do something about the problem. “The prisoners jam sheets and mattress covers down the toilets,” said Wayne Pierson, chief of the regional water board’s regulatory unit. “They also use oranges, shirts and plastic bags.”