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<h1 class="post-title single">Judge: Using Pepper Spray on Mentally Ill
Inmates ‘Horrific’</h1>
<div class="meta single"> <span class="meta-author"> <a
href="http://blogs.kqed.org/newsfix/author/kqednewsstaffandwires/"
title="Posts by KQED News Staff and Wires" rel="author">KQED News
Staff and Wires</a> | </span> <span class="meta-date"> April 11, 201<br>
<b><small><small><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://blogs.kqed.org/newsfix/2014/04/11/california-mistreating-mentally-ill-inmates/">http://blogs.kqed.org/newsfix/2014/04/11/california-mistreating-mentally-ill-inmates/</a></small></small></b><br>
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<p><strong>By Don Thompson, Associated Press<br>
</strong></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>The ruling came after the public release of <a
href="http://www.latimes.com/local/political/la-me-pc-prison-inmate-pepper-spray-20131031,0,5296924.story#axzz2ycoYRTlF"
target="_blank">videotapes made by prison guards</a> 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.</p>
<p>“Most of the videos were horrific,” Karlton wrote in his 74-page
order.</p>
Corrections department spokeswoman Deborah Hoffman said prison
officials are reviewing the order.
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>“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.”</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p><strong>Keeping Mentally Ill Prisoners In Isolation Causes Harm</strong></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>Finally, Karlton ordered the state to revise its policy for
strip-searching mentally ill inmates as they enter and leave housing
units.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
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