The Real USA: Huntsville Texas, prison capital of the state

In Huntsville Texas, five prisons hold approximately 9,000 inmates inside the city limits and another four prisons on the outskirts of town hold thousands more. Around 40% of the townspeople work for the prison system. A prisoner rights attorney tells us that around 1970, the nation's prison population began to skyrocket and in Texas, it has increased 960%. The state has more people per capita in prison than anywhere else in the world, primarily to help "tough on crime" politicians win elections. For private prisons, which hold disproportionante numbers of migrants, more "criminals" means more money. The Texas death chamber is located just a few miles from Huntsville. In the past the electric chair was used to execute prisoners, but now lethal injection is the method of choice.