[Pnews] Judge: Using Pepper Spray on Mentally Ill Inmates ‘Horrific’

[Prisoner News]

  Judge: Using Pepper Spray on Mentally Ill Inmates ‘Horrific’

KQED News Staff and Wires 
<http://blogs.kqed.org/newsfix/author/kqednewsstaffandwires/> | April 
11, 201
*http://blogs.kqed.org/newsfix/2014/04/11/california-mistreating-mentally-ill-inmates/*

*By Don Thompson, Associated Press
*

A federal judge ruled Thursday that California’s treatment of mentally 
ill inmates violates constitutional safeguards against cruel and unusual 
punishment through excessive use of pepper spray and isolation.

U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence Karlton in Sacramento gave the 
corrections department time to issue updated policies on the use of both 
methods but did not ban them.

He offered a range of options on how officials could limit the use of 
pepper spray and isolation units when dealing with more than 33,000 
mentally ill inmates, who account for 28 percent of the 120,000 inmates 
in California’s major prisons.

The ruling came after the public release of videotapes made by prison 
guards 
<http://www.latimes.com/local/political/la-me-pc-prison-inmate-pepper-spray-20131031,0,5296924.story#axzz2ycoYRTlF> 
showing them throwing chemical grenades and pumping large amounts of 
pepper spray into the cells of mentally ill inmates, some of whom are 
heard screaming.

“Most of the videos were horrific,” Karlton wrote in his 74-page order.

Corrections department spokeswoman Deborah Hoffman said prison officials 
are reviewing the order.

Prison officials had already promised to make some changes in how much 
pepper spray they use and how long mentally ill inmates can be kept in 
isolation, but attorneys representing inmates said those changes did not 
go far enough.

Karlton gave the state 60 days to work with his court-appointed special 
master to further revise its policy for using force against mentally ill 
inmates.

The inmates’ attorneys and witnesses also told Karlton during recent 
hearings that the prolonged solitary confinement of mentally ill inmates 
frequently aggravates their condition, leading to a downward spiral.

Karlton agreed, ruling that placement of seriously mentally ill inmates 
in segregated housing causes serious psychological harm, including 
exacerbation of mental illness, inducement of psychosis and increased 
risk of suicide.

“He made findings in every area of ongoing constitutional violations,” 
said Michael Bien, an attorney who represents mentally ill inmates in 
the long-running class-action lawsuit. “Despite all these years of legal 
efforts, he found that there needs to be more done.”

Karlton ordered the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to 
develop a plan to keep mentally ill inmates out of segregation units 
when there is a substantial risk that it will worsen their illness or 
prompt suicide attempts.

He found that keeping mentally ill inmates in isolation when they have 
not done anything wrong violates their rights against cruel and unusual 
punishment. He gave the state 60 days to stop the practice of holding 
mentally ill inmates in the segregation units simply because there is no 
room for them in more appropriate housing.

*Keeping Mentally Ill Prisoners In Isolation Causes Harm*

Even before the latest rulings, the hearings before Karlton spurred the 
department to limit the time that mentally ill inmates spend in 
isolation units if they have not broken prison rules.

Karlton also ruled that mentally ill inmates cannot be placed in special 
security housing units unless corrections officials can demonstrate that 
the isolation will not further harm their mental state.

The state’s practice of housing inmates in the units for years, even 
decades, prompted a series of widespread inmate hunger strikes and led 
to two bills being considered in the Legislature this year that would 
restrict their use.

Finally, Karlton ordered the state to revise its policy for 
strip-searching mentally ill inmates as they enter and leave housing units.

Bien said he hopes that Karlton’s decision to let the department work 
out the details of reforms with the court’s special master will 
encourage the state to make improvements without appealing the order.

Karlton praised Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration for making progress, 
but said the continuing rights violations are proof that he acted 
properly a year ago when he rejected Brown’s attempt to end court 
oversight of prison mental health programs.

The 24-year-old lawsuit over the state’s treatment of its mentally ill 
inmates has prompted sweeping changes in the state prison system, though 
the latest ruling is limited to excessive use of force and the isolation 
of mentally ill inmates.

The mental health lawsuit, along with a separate lawsuit over poor 
medical care, prompted the state to spend billions of dollars for 
improvements while dramatically realigning its criminal justice system 
to keep less serious criminals in county jails instead of state prisons.

Judge: Using Pepper Spray on Mentally Ill Inmates ‘Horrific’ 
<http://www.scribd.com/doc/217740654/Judge-Using-Peppers-Spray-on-Mentally-Ill-Inmates-Horrific> 
by KQED News <http://www.scribd.com/KQED_News>

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