Federal judge orders takeover of health care
By
Judy Greenspan
San Francisco
Published Jul 8, 2005 11:39 PM
Branding
California’s infamous prison system “terribly broken,” U.S.
District Court Judge Thelton Henderson announced June 30 that he would appoint
an independent authority to oversee health care in this state’s prisons.
According to Alison Hardy, an attorney with the Prison Law Office, “The
judge has clearly recognized the ongoing risk of death and harm to patients is
unconstitutional.”
April 2002: Protesters at Central California Women's Facility demand proper medical treatment for prisoners.
|
Henderson’s decision, after hearing two
weeks of testimony and scathing reports of prison visits in the class action
suit Plata v. Schwarzenegger, represents the most radical and complete takeover
of a prison health-care system in U.S. history.
Henderson, who began his
legal career as the first African American lawyer in the U.S. Justice Department
who investigated civil rights cases, has taken bold action in other class-action
lawsuits involving prisons and civil rights in this state. In 1995, Henderson
ruled in favor of Security Hous ing Unit (SHU) lockdown prisoners in Pelican Bay
State Prison. Henderson also tried to block implementation of Proposition 209,
the anti-affirmative action initiative in this state. Unfor tunately, his ruling
was later overturned by a higher court.
Prisons stuffed with
poor
Medical neglect and abuse are no strangers to the California
prison system. For the past 20 years, civil rights attorneys, prisoner
activists, human rights advocates and family members have pointed the finger at
the California Department of Corrections for its inhumane treatment of
prisoners.
California, with a prison population of nearly 165,000, has
set a national trend in the building of mega-prisons. With the cooperation of
racist sentencing laws, it has packed its prisons to double and triple capacity
with poor people of color.
Ten years ago, the legal and public spotlight
was on the abysmal care and medical neglect in this state’s women’s
prisons. A class-action lawsuit called Shumate v. Wilson exposed needless deaths
and torture of women prisoners. An unprecedented legislative hearing inside one
of the women’s prisons brought forth heartrending testimony from women
prisoners about their poor care.
According to Cassie Pierson, staff
attorney with Legal Serv ices for Pris oners with Children and one of the
litigators of the Shumate case, “Judge Hen derson’s decision
validates what women prisoners have been telling us for many years and may give
them hope. In 2000, women prisoners voiced their concerns before the legislature
and nothing happened. Right after the hearings, eight women died and women have
continued to die unnecessarily.”
Women prisoners inside the Central
California Women’s Facility have told this reporter that, if anything,
medical care is worse than ever.
Yvonne/Hamdiyah Cooks, Executive
Director of the California Coalition for Women Prisoners, worries that women
prisoners, who are often “invisible” with in the predominantly male
prison population, will continue to have their health care needs overlooked,
even by a federal monitor.
Prisoners’ rights advocates, community
activists and family members see Hender son’s decision as an important
step forward. However, many emphasize that the appointment of a federal receiver
is only one of several measures that should be taken to change this brutal
prison system.
So much more needed
Corey Weinstein, M.D., a
founder of California Prison Focus, a statewide organization fighting for the
human rights of prisoners, points to the massive and unnecessary incarceration
of poor people in this state, along with a legacy of prison guard brutality and
murder, as equally serious problems to address.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
and his new ly anointed California Department
of Corrections and
Rehabilitation have used the excuse of prison overcrowding
to prepare the
public for the building of more prisons. However, groups like Crit ical Resis
tance, and the Prison Mora torium Project have made a strong case for releasing
large numbers of prisoners convicted of drug-related and nonviolent crimes into
community programs and treatment centers.
Battered women’s groups
and Families to End California’s Three Strikes laws are calling for the
expedited release of lifers who have been held years beyond their expected
release dates.
Mark Smith, a recently released lifer with serious medical
problems, stated, “I am thrilled with Judge Hender son’s decision to
tackle this terribly troubled system. If, however, the guards’ union is
allowed any influence in this much overdue undertaking, like all else they get
their hands on, then we can expect a watered-down version with little long-term
benefit.”
In California, prison guards with a nursing assistant
license are able to dispense medications and decide whether prisoners can see a
doctor. This conflict of roles for these medical technical assistants (MTAs) has
had deadly consequences for prisoners with chronic and serious illnesses.
According to prisoners’ rights activists, trying to access care
from an MTA is like having to go to the state police for your yearly physical.
The California Correctional Peace Officers’ Association (CCPOA) is a
wealthy political action committee that “contributes” to the
campaign funds of most state legislators.
Geppetto Launer, formerly
incarcerated in California’s Corcoran prison, is “hopeful and
cynical” about the effect of the federal takeover. Living with HIV while
inside prison, Launer had a great deal of experience fighting to get proper
medical care. Launer fears that state and prison interference with the receiver
will lead to stonewalling. “I wish the governor and other state officials
were forced to spent one week in any of our state’s prisons—they
would quickly change their tune!” Launer added.
Articles copyright 1995-2012 Workers World.
Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email:
[email protected]
Subscribe
[email protected]
Support independent news
DONATE