Free Republic

Sacramento, CA (AP) -- The Schwarzenegger administration and a federal court appointee have agreed to the framework of a legal settlement to overhaul the way medical care is delivered to prison inmates. The outline of the proposal was given Thursday to The Associated Press and would be the first step toward ending a long-running legal drama that appeared headed to the U.S. Supreme Court. The proposed agreement, if accepted by the federal courts and the Legislature, would call for a sharply scaled-down and far less expensive plan to improve poor inmate medical care than the one the federal receiver previously...

Of course, California prison inmates are entitled to reasonable 21st century health care. Unfortunately for taxpayers, Clark Kelso, the federal receiver in charge of California prison health care, has, as state Attorney General Jerry Brown noted at a news conference last week, a "gold-plated wish list" for California's prison health care system. His Receivership wants to spend $8 billion to build seven hospitals, each the size of 10 Wal-Marts, which would create "a holistic environment," with "music therapy, art therapy and other recreation therapy functions," a music room, stress reduction room, game room and "therapy kitchen," with lots of natural...

The state brought a new dimension Wednesday to the legal struggle over prison health care reform with a motion to get rid of the court-appointed receiver and his proposed $8 billion construction plan. At a Capitol news conference, Attorney General Jerry Brown, Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Secretary Matthew Cate and Department of Finance Director Michael Genest said the receiver, J. Clark Kelso, has done a lot of good things but is no longer needed. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger weighed in with a lengthy prepared statement backing them up. But his remarks at a Press Club luncheon were far more blunt....

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, California Department of Corrections Director Matthew Cate and state Finance Director Mike Genest today announced that California Attorney General Jerry Brown has filed a motion in federal district court in San Francisco to replace the federally appointed receiver. Brown, on behalf of the state, seeks instead a special master who would be an expert appointed by the federal court to advise the state and the court. His motion also asks the court to establish a process during the transition to ensure the receiver's compliance with state and federal law and to terminate the receiver's construction plan. Receiver...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger administration officials and Attorney General Jerry Brown will hold a press conference this morning announcing that they are seeking to end federal court oversight of the health care system in California prisons. The LAT's Michael Rothfield caught up with Brown: "We believe the receivership has become a government unto itself, operating without accountability, without public scrutiny and without clear standards," Brown said Tuesday. "Tremendous sums have been spent, and tremendous progress has been made, but we feel that it's time to place the responsibility on the director of corrections and not have this parallel government operating on...