Judge ends 21-year-old suit on California inmate abuse

AP via CoCo Times ^ | 3/22/11 | DON THOMPSON - Associated Press

[SmithL]

SACRAMENTO -- A legal case that has lasted more than two decades and brought systemic changes to California's prison system ended Monday after a federal judge determined the state corrections department had made sufficient reforms to protect inmates from being abused by guards.

The lawsuit led to policies limiting guards' use of force and added protection for mentally ill inmates. It also prompted the state to create an independent inspector general in the corrections department and an office to oversee investigations of alleged employee wrongdoing.

The reforms were the result of a lawsuit filed in 1990 alleging that inmates at Pelican Bay State Prison in Del Norte County were being abused.

U.S. District Court Judge Thelton Henderson of San Francisco ruled in the inmates' favor in 1995, finding that prison officials had "permitted and condoned a pattern of using excessive force." In 2004, he extended the court's oversight to include abuse investigations and employee discipline throughout the adult prison system.

Also in that year, he approved the department's reform plans, which included new policies on the use of force and reviewing allegations against employees.

Henderson ended the case with a final three-page written order after the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation pledged to keep the reforms even without court supervision. His order was made public Monday.

[SmithL]

21 years of bleeding the state dry.

[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

[Lurker]

Nominated by Jimmy Carter

Out of office for 3 decades and that idiot is still doing damage.

[Always Independent]

Should be “U.S. District Court Judge Thelton Henderson of San Francisco ruled in the citizens’ favor in 1995, finding that state democrat elected officials had “permitted and condoned a pattern of using excessive force in collective bargaining by prison guard union officials.”

[soupbone1]

No more gladiator battles in the prison, what will the guards do now?