SPEAKING OF INMATES...

Martha Stewart, perhaps America's most celebrated inmate (and certainly its
tidiest), was released from federal prison in West Virginia a week ago and
returned home to her 153-acre New York estate to finish doing her time,
ankle bracelet and all.

While we don't have anyone of her exalted status in our prison system, we
certainly have a full house.

And, to use a little variation on one of Martha's favorite expression,
that's nota good thing.

1. What was the total inmate population of Wisconsin's adult correctional
institutions on March 4, 2005? a. 17,501; b. 21,930; c. 36,762; d. 52,871

2. How many out of that total inmate population were female? a. 1,321; b.
2,543; c. 3,112; d. 4,232

3. This institution, which opened in 1852, was Wisconsin's only prison
until 1898.

4. In 1853, Wisconsin became the third state to abolish what?

5. The Department of Corrections estimates that what percentage of
offenders entering the prison system need drug or alcohol treatment?

6. Wisconsin's ratio of African-American to whites in state prisons is the
sixth largest in the nation. True or false?

7. What is the average age of a male and female inmate in Wisconsin prisons?

8. The Wisconsin Secure Program Facility handles the most violent and
difficult-to-manage inmates under the Department of Corrections'
supervision. Where is it located?

9. What is the average sentence being served by male and female inmates?

10. The Department of Corrections has 26 drop-off sites around the state
for this type of equipment, the nation's fastest-growing category of solid
waste.

Answers: 1. b, 21,930; 2. a, 1,321; 3. Waupun Correctional Institution; 4.
Death penalty; 5. 70 percent; 6. True, according to a November 2004 report
by the Wisconsin Sentencing Commission; 7. The average male inmate is 33,
and the average female is 35 (Wisconsin Division of Adult Institutions
Overview 2003); 8. Boscobel; 9. The average male sentence is 15 years, and
the average female sentence is 9 years (Wisconsin Division of Adult
Institutions Overview 2003); 10. Discarded computers, which inmates repair
and upgrade to donate or sell at a nominal fee to preschools, day-care
centers, the elderly, disabled and underprivileged.

- - State of Mind Syndicate