Court to hear California prison health care showdown

Sacramento Bee ^ | 2/11/9 | Denny Walsh

[SmithL]

California prison health care has already grabbed front-page headlines this week, but the issue will be front-and-center again on a separate matter before different judges.

An appellate court on Thursday will hear oral arguments on how far the law allows a federal judge to go in imposing his will on the officials who run California's 33 adult prisons.

For weeks, the level of rhetoric and posturing by the principals has been through the roof.

State officials contend that U.S. District Judge Thelton E. Henderson of San Francisco and his appointed receiver, law professor J. Clark Kelso, have made unreasonable demands for billions of state dollars to build new facilities and improve existing ones.

Henderson and Kelso, in turn, are convinced they wouldn't have had to intervene if at least four governors and corrections officials who served under them had done their jobs.

The judge took control of prison health care in 2006, saying evidence in a class action lawsuit showed inadequate treatment was killing at least one prisoner a week. He appointed the receiver to bring the medical arm of the system in line with the U.S. Constitution.

Not funding his projects now will "cost the state – and taxpayers – dearly in the long run," Kelso claims. He says he has been forced "to put out fires ignited by the Schwarzenegger administration instead of working to save lives and implementing cost-cutting initiatives."

Attorney General Jerry Brown insists that "federal law does not allow the receiver to commandeer the finances of the state to spend $8 billion for unaccountable and extravagant prison construction."

"He's already spent billions and is requesting billions more, despite the fact the costs for prison health care in California have soared to nearly $14,000 per inmate per year," Brown declared....

[SmithL]

Here is the black-robed tyrant:

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

Bibliography

[kellynla]

Overcrowded prisons?

Solution: Deport ALL foreign prisoners!

There is no reason why American taxpayers should pay to incarcerate other countries’ criminals. The Bureau of Prisons reported some time ago that there are over 100K foreigners incarcerated in America. At a conservative cost estimate of $25K per prisoner, it is costing American taxpayers $2.5 TRILLION A YEAR to incarcerate other countries’ criminals!

Of course RINOld would have to do what GWB refused to do and call out the CA National Guard to SECURE the Southern border to prevent them from returning.

[eyeamok]

The KELO decision gave the State the ABSOLUTE RIGHT to condemn and seize private property for economic gain,

Governor Shriver: Grow A SET you big Wuss, immediately seize the assets of all Federal Employees starting with Federal Judges, auction off their properties to pay for their decisions,
You Have The Supreme Courts BLESSING.
Eyeamok