Calif. prison case to test state sovereignty

AP via SFGate ^ | 10/25/8 | DON THOMPSON, Associated Press Writer

[SmithL]

San Francisco, CA (AP) -- The Schwarzenegger administration and a federal court receiver are heading toward a showdown over states' rights in the escalating fight over inmate health care.

In a Monday hearing, U.S. District Court Judge Thelton Henderson said he will proceed with a contempt hearing against the administration for not providing the money sought by the court-appointed receiver. He said it will raise significant constitutional issues about state sovereignty.

The judge said the inmate medical system remains in crisis.

"We cannot afford to have more delays," he said.

Clark Kelso, the receiver in charge of California's prison medical system, wants $8 billion to reform it and $250 million immediately as a down payment. He is seeking the money to build seven medical and mental health care centers at the same California faces a budget crisis.

The state says the court cannot unilaterally take that money from its treasury and must instead negotiate with lawmakers.

[SmithL]

All Hail our Black-Robed Masters!

[SmithL]

Henderson, Thelton Eugene

Born 1933 in Shreveport, LA

Federal Judicial Service:
Judge, U. S. District Court, Northern District of California
Nominated by Jimmy Carter on May 9, 1980, to a seat vacated by Cecil F. Poole; Confirmed by the Senate on June 26, 1980, and received commission on June 30, 1980. Served as chief judge, 1990-1997. Assumed senior status on November 28, 1998.

Education:
University of California, Berkeley, B.A., 1956

University of California, Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law, J.D., 1962

Professional Career:
U.S. Army Corporal, 1956-1958
Attorney, Civil Rights Division, U.S. Department of Justice, 1962-1963
Private practice, Oakland, California, 1964-1966
Directing attorney, East Bayshore Neighborhood Legal Center, East Palo Alto, California, 1966-1969
Assistant dean, Stanford Law School, 1968-1977
Private practice, San Francisco, California, 1977-1980
Associate professor, Golden Gate University School of Law, 1978-1980

Race or Ethnicity: African American

Gender: Male

[willgolfforfood]

Ahnahld...

Read up on William Wayne Justice in Texas, and realize you are TOAST!

[Tzimisce]

Your Mickey Mouse laws don’t apply to us! We’re liberal judges.

[edcoil]

Government forcing 9 Billion a year for healthcare for prisons.

[OneWingedShark]

It seems like the state should have a good case. I mean, since when is it the Judicatory’s place to bludgeon people with “law” that is not what the law itself reads?

Or did I miss where the “Rule of Law”, and the attendant idea that the general citizenry should know what the law, basically means, had been repealed in favor of Gnosticism?

[Crazieman]

States rights?

The 10th amendment has entirely ceased to exist. I bet if anyone brought it up on a national level, they would be called a right wing nut.

[umgud]

$9 billion? I don’t see the problem. CA has some of the richest taxpayers in the country. Obama has raised tens of millions in a very short time here.

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

U.S. Army Corporal, 1956-1958, drafted or kicked out if he enlisted!

[goldstategop]

California should say NO to Henderson. If the judge wants that money, he's going to have order the federal government to confiscate it from California by force. A judge has no business ordering the executive branch to appropriate or to spend money for any purpose. Its unconstitutional and a breach of separation of powers.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus