September 17, 2009
State wants control over inmates’ health care
A state lawyer argued Wednesday that California should regain control of its prison health care system, saying a federal judge had no authority to appoint a receiver to run inmates' treatment in 2006.
The argument drew a skeptical response from a federal appeals judge, who noted that California has argued before a different court that there was no need to reduce the prison population to improve health care because the receiver was in charge of the system.
Judge Michael Hawkins of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also noted that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration didn't object in 2005 when the judge hearing the prison health case, Thelton Henderson, announced plans to remove the medical system from state control and turn it over to a receiver as a last resort to meet constitutional standards…
LINK - SFGate.com
