Well, so much for the idea that bureaucracy should be accountable.
The decision on California's attempt to reinstate control over its ownprison system is back, and from the looks of it, we're doomed to spendmillions more on ensuring that murderers who have the flu get their hotwater bottles.
The Vacavile Reporter reports that "afederal judge on Tuesday denied Gov. ArnoldSchwarzenegger's request to remove a court-appointed receiver who wantsthe cash-strapped state to spend $8 billion to build new health carefacilities in its prisons."
The reasoning was that apparently, the state has failed to meet the conditions laid out by the original Courtwhich appointed the receiver to make sure that prisoners had elbowroom. Of special note was the fact that U. S. District Judge LawrenceKarlton "called it 'mind-boggling' that the statelacks a treatment plan 14 years after a class-action lawsuit was filedon behalf of mentally ill prisoners. The judge previously found thatmental health care in state prisons is so poor inmates frequentlycommit suicide," according to the Reporter.
Or, as Judge Thelton Henderson wrote, "The court is far from confident that (stateofficials) have the will, capacity, or leadership to provideconstitutionally adequate medical care in the absence of areceivership."
Those who have read the federal Constitution should be looking quite confused at the moment. After all, what on earth is "constitutionally adequate medical care"? For that matter, where in the Constitution does it say anythingabout medical care? It doesn't.
Naturally, the state plans to appeal and it's a good thing becausethis type of reform (i.e. building new hospitals and sticking mentallyill prisoners in their civilian equivalents in the interim) is neitherwanted nor needed at this time.
Despite Governor Schwarzenegger'sturncoat appeals for more infrastructure spending,it's doubtful that even the Governator would welcome an expense likethis. The former bit, the building of hospitals, might seem appealinginsofar as it could lessen the crippling 12 percent unemployment rateCalifornia currently suffers under, but if one wants to spendbillions of taxpayer dollars, surely the fact that these are prisonhospitals would rouse resentment, even among those segments ofCalifornia's population who regularly beg to leech off the taxpayers'collective wallet. Why not civilian hospitals, or schools, or roads, orsomething one doesn't have to commit a crime to access? At leastthat would increase the living standard for people who haven't made ittheir business to trample on basic values.
Unfortunately, all the outrage in the world will be impotent inthis case, because, as Governor Jerry Brown so aptly pointed out, ""Thefederal receivership has become its ownautonomous government operating outside the normal checks and balancesof state and federal law...California is spending almost $14,000 perinmate for health care, farmore than any other state. It is time for a dose of fiscal commonsense."
This "autonomous government" can unfortunately only beoverthrown through the power of the Courts. Hopefully, at least one ofthose institutions will see the error their ways, and stop allowingthis federal "receivership" to be the receiver of money whichCalifornia's people don't have, and which they wouldn't give it tobegin with, if they had a choice.
