Federal judges have handed a pair of setbacks to California officials in their long-running battle to regain control of health care in the state’s chronically overcrowded prison system.
In a 24-page ruling released March 24, U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson rejected Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s request that he remove the federal receiver and return control to the state. Henderson in 2006 appointed a non-profit corporation headed by a receiver to manage the prison health care system after finding that the level of medical care violated the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
Attorneys for Schwarzenegger have argued that the level of health care has improved to the point where a receiver is no longer necessary.
Henderson, in rejecting the state’s arguments, wrote, “Based on the entire record in this case, the court is far from confident that (state officials) have the will, capacity, or leadership to provide constitutionally adequate medical care in the absence of a receivership.” He stated his intention was to return control to the state once he is satisfied that the level of care has improved.
The state is protesting plans by the current receiver, law Professor Clark Kelso, to spend $8 billion to build seven health care centers to treat and house up to 10,000 medically and mentally ill prisoners. Kelso has since proposed a scaled down plan which would provide half the beds at half the cost.
California officials initially cooperated with the upgrades ordered by the receiver, spending millions to improve existing facilities and services throughout the 33-prison system. When the state budget deficit last summer ballooned to $42 billion, the state Legislature refused the receiver’s demand for a $250 million down payment to finance his construction plans.
Henderson immediately announced plans to hold Schwarzenegger and state Controller John Chiang in contempt of court, and to fine the state up to $2 million for each day the state failed to provide the $250 million to the receiver. State Attorney General Jerry Brown promptly appealed and won a temporary stay from Henderson’s ruling.
Following Henderson’s ruling, a second federal judge, U.S. District Judge Lawrence Karlton of Sacramento, said he has also considered appointing a receiver to take over prison mental health services.
Karlton angrily berated state attorneys and gave them 60 days to present him with a plan for improving care for thousands of mentally ill inmates or face contempt proceedings.
In a second court setback for the beleaguered state, a federal appeals court reinstated contempt-of-court proceedings against Schwarzenegger and Chiang for defying Henderson’s ruling.
A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, of which both Henderson and Karlton are members, issued its own 15-page ruling on March 25, the day following Henderson’s ruling, regarding removal of the receiver. The appeals panel said the state’s appeal was premature, coming before Henderson had yet ruled on the issue of contempt of court.
Lisa Page, a spokeswoman for Schwarzenegger, has indicated that both decisions will be appealed.
Miseries for the state’s officials are compounded by a previous ruling in a related case. Another three-judge panel, which included both Henderson and Karlton, has concluded that prison overcrowding is the primary cause of substandard medical care, and has issued a tentative ruling ordering the early release of between 37,000 and 58,000 inmates.
Schwarzenegger has vowed to appeal any order for releases directly to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Following the court rulings, Kelso issued a statement expressing a desire to work closely with state officials and California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Secretary Matt Cate in an effort to resolve the impasse. Kelso recently replaced three of his long-time top aides, noted for their adversarial approach in dealing with the state, and replaced them with former state government employees.
Archives for April 2009
U.S. Prison Reform Commission Proposed
Everyone is either directly or indirectly affected by crime, increasing rates of recidivism, costs of incarceration, and having those who have the penalty prescribed by law for their crimes barred from effectively being reintegrated into society as productive citizens.
In the spring of 2009, U.S. Senator Jim Webb, D-Virginia, introduced the National Criminal Justice Commission Act of 2009 on March 26. His proposal on criminal justice reform received generally wide support from senate leadership, the Senate Judiciary Committee and the White House. The blue-ribbon commission would be charged with a thorough, 18-month review of the criminal justice system and responsible for determining reforms for reducing the incarceration rate, identifying ways to effectively impact international and domestic gang violence, restructure policy on the adjudication of drug crimes, provide for appropriate treatment of mental illness, improve prison administration and establish a system for the effective reintegration of ex-offenders.
“With so many of our citizens in prison compared with the rest of the world,
there are only two possibilities: Either we are home to the most evil
people on earth or we are doing something different and vastly
counter productive. Obviously, this answer is the latter,”
—U.S. Senator Jim Webb
“The rate of incarceration in America has dramatically increased over the past 17 years. The United States has the world’s highest reported incarceration rate. With less than 5 percent of the world’s population, it has almost one-quarter of the world’s prisoners,” said Webb.
The unprecedented increase in imprisonment is attributed to the incarceration of more people for non-violent crimes, acts committed by the mentally ill or acts prompted by alcohol and drug dependency.
“Post-incarceration and re-entry programs vary in effectiveness. And often programs and services are non-existent in many communities. After having fully served the just sentences imposed for their crimes, ex-offenders must than confront a wall of laws and private policies that effectively bar them from employment,” Webb said.
He points out that effective services and programs for the formerly incarcerated have the potential to reduce recidivism rates and increase public safety. Without being provided the opportunity and support for reintegration into society, many resort again to the patterns of criminal activity that they have known just to survive. Most elected officials, afraid of being tarred as soft on crime, ignore these problems.
Webb has enlisted the support of top-ranking Democrats, including majority leader Harry Reid, and influential Republicans like Arlan Specter, the ranking minority member on the Judiciary Committee, and Lindsey Graham, the ranking member of the Crime and Drugs Subcommittee. A bipartisan national consensus has emerged that the criminal justice system is broken.” says Webb, a former Marine and Secretary of the Navy in the Reagan administration.
“There are few things rarer than a major politician doing something that is genuinely courageous and principled, but Sen. Jim` Webb’s impassioned commitment to fundamental prison reform is exactly that,” wrote Glenn Greenwald, a writer for the website Salon. Webb’s interest in the issue was prompted by his work as a journalist in 1984, when he wrote about an American citizen who was locked away in a Japanese prison for two years under extremely harsh conditions, for nothing more than marijuana possession,” Greenwald said.
Brown University Professor Glenn Loury describes America as “a nation of jailers whose prison system has grown into a leviathan unmatched in human history.”
In his two years in the Senate, Webb has held hearings on the costs associated with mass incarceration and on the criminal justice system’s response to the problems of illegal drugs. He also has called attention to the need to provide released inmates who have paid their debts to society more help getting jobs and resuming productive lives.
THE WAR ON DRUGS
If drug-legalizers are slowly gaining traction, drug-war-enders appear to be moving more swiftly to fix things from their end. Politicians in New York state recently reached a deal to repeal the state’s hard-line Rockefeller drug laws, passed in 1973, which imposed mandatory 15-years-to-life sentences for possession of small amounts of cocaine and heroin. Webb announced his intention to take that kind of reconsideration nationwide by introducing his National Criminal Justice Act Commission of 2009.
Although politically popular and expedient over the past several decades, the “tough-on-crime” stance promoted in reaction to escalating crime rates has not reduced crime and the rate of incarceration overall.
Alternative, effective approaches that provide both for intervention and rehabilitation through cost-effective programs and services that allow for the restoration of the formerly incarcerated to return to their communities have been documented to be effective in reducing crime and recidivism. Support is needed from the leadership of both major political parties as well as from our communities across the nation, according to Webb.
TIME TO CHANGE
THE LAWS
The National Commission task is to look at every aspect of the criminal justice system with an eye toward reshaping the process from top to bottom. Webb intends to bring together the best minds in America to confer, report, and make recommendations about how we can reform the process, with clear answers to hard questions such as: Why are so many Americans currently in prison compared with other countries and our own history? What is the policy costing our nation, both in tax dollars and in lost opportunities? How can we reshape our nation’s drug policies? How can we better diagnose and treat mental illness? How can we end violence within prisons and increase the quality of prison administrators? How can we build workable re-entry programs so that communities can assimilate former offenders and encourage them to become productive citizens? How can we defend ourselves against the growing scourge of violent, internationally based gang activity?
Senator Jim Webb is a PARADE contributing editor and the author of nine Books, including “A Time to Fight.” For more information visit; parade.com or WWW.Webb. Senate.Gov.
Patch Adams Shows S.Q. His ‘Healing With Humor’
“When I see a prison, I ache,” medical doctor and humanitarian Patch Adams commented during a recent visit to San Quentin. “I see massive inequality and massive injustice.”
Adams visited San Quentin during the last week of March as part of the Arts and Corrections Program. He talked with staff and inmates about his mission supporting free global health care as well as enlightening the prison community on societal compassion.
Hunter Campbell “Patch” Adams is a world-renowned speaker who has spent a large portion of his life as a true humanitarian. His inspiring life story was the basis for the Hollywood movie “Patch Adams,” starring Robin Williams.
Adams was born May 28, 1945 in Washington, D.C., the son of a military professional. He spent most of his childhood growing up around the world.
“I grew up overseas on Army bases,” said Adams. “I was orphaned in 1961.”
After his father was killed in the Vietnam War, Adams moved back to the states where he describes being beat up by his peers and falling into a state of depression, leading him to hospitalization for two suicide attempts.
“At 18, I decided that I’m never going to have a bad day,” said Adams.
He attended the Medical College of Virginia where he earned his Doctor of Medicine degree in 1971. After graduation, Adams and some close friends founded the Gesundheit Institute in West Virginia, part of his dream to offer free medical treatment to anyone in need. The hospital, which according to Adam’s web site has served over 15,000 patients, has no support from health care insurance and doctors do not have malpractice insurance.
“One-fourth of the $2 trillion American medical budget goes to administration costs,” said Adams, who humbly takes pride in his career in helping others free of charge. “For 38 years, I have paid to be a doctor.”
Part of Adams larger-than-life character is what he calls “healing through humor.”
Adams, who considers himself a clown, bounced through the corridors of San Quentin sporting red clown pants, a blue and purple shirt and his hair pulled back in a waist length blue streaked pony tail.
“Put me on the yard, they’re not ready for me,” said Adams while holding what can only be called the world’s largest pair of underwear.
During his visit, his silliness infected every prisoner who crossed paths with Adams. If a prisoner didn’t initially think he was funny, he pulled out a slew of props including a dental cheek spreader and a nasty looking green booger which he hung from his nose. His props, vivacious personality, accompanied with hilariously funny faces, seemingly melted away the stress of prison from his audience of men in blue prison uniforms.
Silliness aside, Adams is a self-proclaimed liberalist and advocate for prison reform, a very forgiving position from a man whose best friend was murdered by one of his patients in the late 1960s.
Asked about what he thinks of San Quentin, he replied: “I didn’t see any criminals. I don’t even know what criminals look like. I saw a bunch of men with an over-abundance of time.”
Cronk Paroles After 26 Years
One of San Quentin’s pioneers to the multitude of self-help / therapeutic programs that are in place today was paroled on April 13.
Don Cronk has been a fixture in helping himself by helping and serving others throughout the 25 years that he resided in San Quentin (1984-2009).
Cronk answered a series of questions, in which he has imparted the following: “I never thought for one moment when I rode through the sally port on the Grey Goose (Bus) in 1984, that I would serve my entire life sentence in one prison. Except for medical/legal reasons, I have been in San Quentin for 25 years continuous. I had served almost four years in county fighting my case, so all in all after almost 29 calendar years, I go home.
“My hope for all those I leave behind is that the process, after being found suitable by the BPH, is that your freedom comes quickly and not as difficult and often heart-breaking as it has been for us who have gone before you. My only advice is this, nothing truly good in life is free. One must always pay the cost and work hard, but faith and perseverance will get you what your heart desires. You know what it is you need to do, do it and you will be set free. I will miss many and others I hope to never see again (staff & inmates alike), although I wish no harm to anyone. I was not perfect and often failed my walk, but I believe Jesus Christ set me free. My life-changing scripture is 1 Timothy 1:12-18.
“I hope to help bring about change from outside and I am already committed to several projects you don’t yet know about, but soon will. Take care, good luck, and never, ever, give up! Don Cronk.”
National News Briefs
SACRAMENTO – 3-27-09 – A Sacramento-based federal appeals court judge has blocked a key part of Proposition 9; the Victims’ Bill of Rights Act of 2008, or Marsy’s Law, passed by California voters by a narrow margin. Senior Judge Lawrence K. Karlton ruled that the state must continue to abide by a court approved consent decree from 2004 requiring the state to provide parolees with attorneys during parole revocation hearings.
CHINO – 3-30-09 – An outbreak of gastroenteritis sickened 18 inmates at the California Institution for Women, causing the prison to temporarily bar visitors and new inmates from entering the facility, which houses up to 2,400 women. The illness, an inflammation of large and small intestines, can cause diarrhea and vomiting.
IOWA – 4-4-09 – In a unanimous decision, the Iowa Supreme Court legalized same sex marriage. Iowa joined Massachusetts and Connecticut in allowing gay marriages.
VERMONT – 4-7-09 – The Legislature voted to override the governor’s veto and become the fourth state to legalize same sex marriage.
NEW YORK – 4-3-09 – Suffolk County in New York has enacted the first ban on the suspected cancer-causing chemical bisphenol A. The chemical is used in the manufacture of plastic items such as baby bottles and sippy cups. Several states are considering their own bans on the chemical.
ALASKA – 3-28-09 – Mount Redoubt continued to erupt and spew a plume of ash 65,000 feet into the sky. The last active period for the volcano was a four-month period in 1989-1990.
ITALY – 4-6-09 – An early morning, 6.3 magnitude earthquake in Laquila, 70 miles northeast of Rome, left at least 300 dead and more than 100,000 homeless.
FRANCE – 4-4-09 – Dozens of doctors combined their efforts in Paris to perform the world’s first simultaneous partial face and double hand transplant. The recipient is a 30-year-old burn victim injured in a 2004 accident.
PITTSBURGH – 4-6-09 – A mentally disturbed gunman shot and killed three police officers responding to calls of a domestic disturbance.
Christopher ‘Bert’ Boatman Freed
After 23 years of prison, Bert Boatman has gained his freedom and has reunited with his family.
With skills as a journeyman machinist, welder, plumber and sheet metal, to name a few, Bert is the guy that you wanted on your team to get the job done right. Bert openly and willingly shared his knowledge with anyone. Although, a very conscientious worker you could always count on having fun while working with Bert.
In the words of his peers and staff alike, Bert is known as a fun-loving kind of a guy, who is good-hearted, very dependable, well-rounded, funny and a good family man. As a positive role model for so many people, it is bittersweet not seeing Bert playing tennis, being a pillar in the church and self-help groups, vocational shops and missing his infectious laughter, ha!
A few words from our friend: “Wow! Knowing that I will soon be in the free-world, one of the first things to come to my mind is what a responsibility and blessing it is to be a representation for so many other men. Most of you are just as, if not more, deserving as I to be given a chance to prove our worth, rehabilitation and value to our family, friends and community. I will never forget the love, support and guidance, which helped me to achieve this physical freedom. I thank each and every one of you from the bottom of my heart and the depth of my soul for not giving up on me. You taught me a lesson in compassion, patience, and tolerance that goes beyond anything else that I have ever known. I am a much better person because of you all. I especially thank God for putting some good men in my life. Thank you Hector, Stephen, Noel and Mr. Hill for all the work you have each done in my case and in others. You brought me hope and showed me how to hold my head high. I also need to thank Father Barber for being a strong spiritual guide and adviser. To Curly Joe, I love you man and I will never forget you.
We are all so happy that Bert has taken this big step forward in the next chapter of his life. A good friend says of this “country boy with a city attitude,” that, “anyone who knows Bert will miss him very much.” How true! Bert, we all love ya’ and you will be in our thoughts and prayers.
SQ Hosts Sentencing Reform Lectures
Starting the last week of April, the College Program will launch a series on sentencing policy and sentencing reform. These lectures will take place at designated locations Friday afternoons from 1-3pm. The first lecture took place April 24; several others are scheduled throughout May and June. More information about the schedule of presenters will be available at the first lecture.
The lectures will address a variety of issues, including an overview of sentencing guidelines in California and the political climate around sentencing reform; the three-strikes law; mandatory minimum penalties; sentencing juveniles as adults; and the recent ruling on overcrowding. Experts from Stanford, UC Berkeley, Santa Clara University, the Drug Policy Alliance, and other organizations will present research and lead discussions. The lectures are intended to provide opportunities for students and volunteers in the College Program to learn about sentencing and to gain access to resources on criminal justice policy in California.
The lectures will allow for some discussion, question, and answer, but the presenters will not be able to give legal advice.
Provided By Jody Lewen & Jennifer Scaife
Patten College Program Coordinators, www.prisonuniversityproject.org
Author Dave Eggers Speaks On the Sudanese Struggle
More than 40 San Quentin prisoners were afforded the opportunity to hear the acclaimed New York Times best- selling author Dave Eggers, review one of his novels.
Eggers’s introduction by prisoner Teiiamu straightened backs and let the San Quentin audience, including staff from Patten University, know that they were privileged to hear something rare in today’s times, uncut truth and reality.
Eggers’s 2007 novel, What is the What, was read by many of the prisoners who came to listen to this humble man give an account of the plight of the Dinka people in war-torn Sudan, which inspired him to write the book. The book is an epic account of one of the Lost Boys of Sudan, Valentino Achak Deng as his heart-felt voyage from Marial Bai, a small village in Southern Sudan, to a refugee camp in Kenya.
Eggers’s biographical narrative took him over four years to complete. “The book is bigger than me,” said Eggers.
It is not difficult to understand this sentiment, as he explains that the proceeds of the novel go to helping the children of East African strife.
“Each book sold represents three bricks for Valentino’s non-profit organization dedicated to assisting poor Africans throughout the region,” said Eggers.
Educated at the University of Illinois, Chicago, Eggers is a talented writer. He took the oral history of Valentino and developed a spirited, witty, emotional, epic story of real life events that give the reader deep empathy for Valentino enduring his 800 mile quest across East Africa.
The New York Times Book Review wrote, “Eggers’s generous spirit and seemingly inexhaustible energy…transform Valentino and the people he met on his journey into characters in a book with the imaginative sweep, the scope and, above all, the emotional power of an epic…Eggers has made the outlines of the tragedy in East Africa—so vague to so many Americans—not only sharp and clear but indelible. An eloquent testimony to the power of storytelling.”
Health and Wellness Corner
The San Quentin News “Health and Wellness Corner” column runs every month. A University of California, San Francisco, health professional student will answer questions that you submit about health issues. Inquiries will be answered in the next month’s paper. Feel free to ask us questions about any medical concern that you have, and it may be answered so that everyone can benefit. If you have a question, put it in a U-Save-Em envelope addressed to:
Health and Wellness Corner, UCSF Doctors (Dr. Shira Shavit) – Medical Box. If you include your name and number, they will be kept confidential. Note that this column is for general medical questions.
This edition, we will address the following question:
Why is it Dangerous to Take Other People’s Medications?
Your health care provider may prescribe you medicine to keep you strong and healthy. Medications you get from your doctor are specially chosen for you to use and there may be serious consequences when someone else uses them.
One type of medication that should not be shared with anyone else is an antibiotic.
What are antibiotics?
Antibiotics are medicines that attack bacteria, a type of germ that can make you sick. Your immune system is usually strong enough to fight off bacteria that try to get into your body. If your immune system can’t get rid of the bacteria alone, your health care provider will give you antibiotics to help your body to kill the bacteria.
You might wonder why antibiotics that help us get better when we’re sick shouldn’t be shared with someone else who might have the same symptoms. It is dangerous to share antibiotics because:
- Some people are allergic to certain kinds of antibiotics. Allergies to antibiotics can be serious, and can even cause death. Your provider will work with you to prevent you from taking the wrong kind of antibiotic.
- Different sicknesses sometimes look the same. You and your cellie may have the same symptoms, but you could have totally different sicknesses. When you take the wrong kind of antibiotic, you might get worse.
- Antibiotics don’t work when viruses, another type of germ, makes you sick. If you take antibiotics when a virus is making you sick, they will not help you get better. Only your provider can make sure if you’re sick because of a bacteria or a virus.
- When bacteria are exposed to an antibiotic over and over the bacteria can become strong enough that the antibiotics don’t work on them anymore. This is called resistance. Taking other peoples antibiotics can lead to resistance.
If you feel like you might need medication, submit a sick call slip to your provider. He or she will work with you to make sure that if you need medication, you get the right kind of antibiotic.
Lifers Benefit From Decision
The attorneys for Uncommon Law have won a significant victory concerning the procedures in the recently voted in Marsy’s Law.
A deal was agreed upon with the Board of Prison Terms, on March 27 regarding the Lifer class action lawsuit concerning late parole hearings. (In Re Rutherford, Marin County Superior Court No. SC135399A). In this agreement the board admitted that approximately 700 lifers are entitled to “Pre-Proposition 9” hearing decisions. However, lawyers for the prisoners are striving to make sure that no eligible lifers are left out.
The specific relief is limited to initial and subsequent parole consideration hearings that were due to be held any time prior to Dec. 15, 2008, but were not held before that date for reasons that were not the prisoners’ fault. For example, an inmate is eligible if the hearing was postponed until after that date because the board failed to provide the inmate or his/her attorney with a complete board package, including a psychological evaluation, “in a timely manner.” Also if an inmate voluntarily postponed his or her hearing for a period of time that expired prior to Dec. 15, then they are eligible.
If your hearing has already been held and the inmate received a post-Proposition 9 mandatory 3-to-15-year denial. Now the board shall use its authority to review postponed decisions [Title 15, 2041, subd. (h)).] and convert those denials periods to what was available before Proposition 9 (1-to-5 years in murder cases and 1 or 2 years in non-murder cases). Some prisoners whose hearings were overdue on Dec. 15, 2008, stipulated to unsuitability, possibly out of fear of a 7-, 10- or 15-year denial under Proposition 9. The board will convert those stipulations to whatever was available before Proposition 9.
In murder cases:
- 15-year stipulation will become 5-year stipulations
- 10-year stipulation will become 4-year stipulations
- 7-year stipulation will become 3-year stipulations
- 5-year stipulation will become 2-year stipulations
- 3-year stipulation will become 1-year stipulations
In cases other that murder:
- Stipulations of 5 years and above will all become 2-year stipulations
- 3-year stipulations will become 1-year stipulations
This relief is limited to hearings that were overdue on Dec. 15, 2008. Prisoners eligible for relief described here may still challenge the constitutionally on its face or as it applies to them. Also, prisoners whose denial periods the board will convert to a “Pre-9” decision may still challenge the board’s decision to deny parole in the same way they could before the agreement was made. Nothing in this class action can prevent such challenges.
Within the next couple of months, the board will provide notice to every prisoner whose hearing decision or stipulation is changed pursuant to this agreement. Uncommon Law said it is providing this notice now so that inmates know what to expect.
“We have already heard some very disturbing reports of how prisoners and their families are reacting to bad hearing outcomes under Proposition 9, said Keith Wattley, an attorney with Uncommon Law. “We did not want to waste any time getting the word out to relieve at least some of that suffering.”
Wattley added there will be town hall meetings in May on “California’s Broken Parole System.”
Topics include:
Are you sentenced to Life with the possibility of parole?
Are you being denied parole after decades of incarceration, despite preparing for a successful release?
Has the governor denied parole to you despite being found suitable by the Board of Parole Hearings?
Do you have felony convictions that put you at risk of a 3-Strikes sentence (25-Life)?
Do you want to challenge California’s broken criminal justice system (parole, sentencing laws, and courts)?
The purposes are:
Lay out the current state of parole in California
Understanding Proposition 9 (“Marsy’s Law”)-how it effects Term-to-Life prisoners and parole
Develop strategies to assist in Lifer releases-preparation for the board, legal remedies, and community organizing
Support loved ones when they are released
When: 1-4 p.m. Saturday, May 16
Where: Goodwill, 1500 Mission St., San Francisco.
Also on Saturday, May 30, 1-4 p.m.
Where: Watts Labor Community Action Committee, at 10950 South Central Ave., Los Angeles.
Contact: Manuel La Fontaine (415) 255-7036 x 328
manuel@prisonerswithchildren.org
1540 Market St., Suite 490
San Francisco, California 94102
ATTN: Parole Town Hall