SAN FRANCISCO – A federal judge has refused to lift an order requiring California to protect mentally disabled inmates in state prisons.
The order was issued almost nine years ago, but those inmates are still being beaten, robbed and deprived of food and sanitation, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer said on Sept. 16 after a six-day trial.
Breyer said one prisoner’s weight dropped from 175 pounds to about 140 in five months because his cellmate was stealing his food, but guards laughed at him when he asked them to accompany him to the canteen.
“In this climate of indifference, developmentally disabled prisoners are forced to surrender their items to whoever asks, cajoles, threatens or strong-arms them,” Breyer said.
