Wednesday, July 21, 2004

Takeover of State Prisons Is Threatened (California)
KTLA-TV story - "Criticizing the Schwarzenegger administration for a 'business as usual' attitude toward reforming California's $6-billion prison system, a federal judge warned the state Tuesday he may appoint a receiver to take over the state Department of Corrections. If U.S. District Judge Thelton E. Henderson were to make good on that threat, it would be a blow to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and a beleaguered system reeling from a string of scandals. Prison oversight by federal judges is not unheard of. But experts said placing day-to-day operation of an entire correctional system under an outsider may be unprecedented..."  
  

Advocates seeking treatment with drugs, as ordered by a court (Ohio)
Cincinnati Enquirer story - "Every year the refusal to take medication to treat a mental illness leads to assaults, killings and suicides that could have been prevented, while a legal tool to enforce treatment is seldom used, advocates say. ... Ohio is one of 42 states with some type of law allowing court orders to comply with treatment without commitment to a hospital, according to the Arlington, Va.-based Treatment Advocacy Center. But many family members and even judges aren't aware of the ability, said Mary Zdanowicz, director of the Treatment Advocacy Center. Dwindling resources and court challenges also uphold use of the laws."