Judge blames California officials for lack of prison health funds
He says the state's failure to provide $8 billion requested to improve medical care for prisoners is the result of political blockage.
SAN FRANCISCO -- U. S. District Judge Thelton Henderson scolded state officials today for refusing to furnish $8 billion requested by the overseer of prison healthcare to improve the medical system in state lockups.
Henderson, who appointed J. Clark Kelso as the receiver in charge of prison healthcare, said the state had agreed repeatedly that prisoners were dying needlessly and that the system needed to be fixed. But Henderson said politics appears to be getting in the way. The Legislature rejected Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposal this year that the state borrow most of the money Kelso wants.
"I am left with the impression that this . . . is the result of nothing more" than politics, the judge said.
Kelso has asked Henderson to hold Schwarzenegger and California Controller John Chiang in contempt of court for failing to provide funding to build seven medical facilities for 10,000 sick and mentally ill inmates. He wants the judge to order the state to turn over the money he seeks.
The state's lawyers maintain that Kelso has not adequately justified the high cost. And they say the governor and the controller cannot turn over any cash without permission from the Legislature.
Henderson said he would issue an order in the case within 48 hours.
michael.rothfeld@latimes.com
