Plata v. Schwarzenegger
Plata v. Newsom, Docket No. 4:01-cv-01351-JST (
The case was consolidated with Coleman v. Schwarzenegger and assigned to a three-judge court on July 26, 2007, to hear motions for relief pursuant to the Prison Litigation Reform Act. An order to reduce the prison population was entered on January 12, 2010, which California claims is unconstitutional in its appeal before the Supreme Court.
History
Complaint
The case was filed on April 5, 2001, and re-filed with an amended complaint on August 20, 2001.[1] The alleged deficiencies included inadequate medical screening of incoming prisoners; delays in or failure to provide access to medical care, including specialist care; untimely responses to medical emergencies; the interference of custodial staff with the provision of medical care; the failure to recruit and retain sufficient numbers of competent medical staff; disorganized and incomplete medical records; a "lack of quality control procedures, including lack of physician peer review, quality assurance and death reviews"; a lack of protocols to deal with chronic illnesses, including diabetes, heart disease, hepatitis, and HIV; and the failure of the administrative grievance system to provide timely or adequate responses to complaints concerning medical care.[1] The claims alleged that patients being treated by the CDCR received inadequate medical care that resulted in the deaths of 34 inmate-patients.[2]
Stipulation
The plaintiffs and defendants negotiated a stipulation for injunctive relief, which the court approved by court order on June 13, 2002, requiring defendants to provide "only the minimum level of medical care required under the Eighth Amendment."[1]
Receivership
However, three years after approving the stipulation as an order of the court, the court conducted an evidentiary hearing that revealed the continued existence of appalling conditions arising from defendants' failure to provide adequate medical care to California inmates.[1] As a result, the court ruled in June 2005 and issued an order on October 3, 2005, putting the CDCR's medical health care delivery system in receivership.[1] The receivership became effect in April 2006.[3]
Three-Judge Court
Release Order
On August 4, 2009, the three-judge court ordered that the defendants submit a plan within 45 days detailing "a population reduction plan that will in no more than two years reduce the population of the CDCR's adult institutions to 137.5% of their combined design capacity."[1] The panel argued that substantial numbers of those in prison could be released without affecting public safety, through such measures as parole reform, community treatment of non-violent prisoners and release of inmates who have demonstrated good behavior.[2]
The state submitted a plan on September 18, 2009, but the plan failed to meet requirements set by the release order.[4] On October 21, 2009, the court rejected the plan,[5] and gave the government until November 12 to submit a corrected plan[6] or it would order the attorneys for the plaintiffs to submit a plan and order it implemented.[7] The state submitted a revised plan on November 12, 2009, and the plan was accepted and entered as an order of the court on January 12, 2010.[8]
Supreme Court
California appealed the order to the Supreme Court on January 19, 2010,[3] and the Court postponed jurisdictional questions relating to the appeal on June 14, 2010.[9] It was argued on November 30, 2010.[10]
On May 23, 2011, the Court issued an opinion, Brown v. Plata, No. 09-1233, written by
Reactions
Governor of California
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Order for population reduction plan, three-judge court convened by the Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit hearing Plata v. Schwarzenegger and Coleman v. Schwarzenegger
- ^ a b Gullo, Karen. "California Must Reduce Inmate Population, U.S. Judges Rule ", Bloomberg News, February 10, 2009. Accessed October 14, 2009.
- ^ California Attorney Generalet al.
- ^ Yi, Matthew; Egelko, Bob (September 19, 2009), State fails federal demand to cut prisoners, San Francisco Chronicle, p. C-1, retrieved October 23, 2009
- ^ Egelko, Bob (October 22, 2009), Court, governor dig in heels on prison crowding, San Francisco Chronicle, p. A-11, retrieved October 23, 2009
- ^ Rothfeld, Michael (October 22, 2009), "Judges reject California plan to cut prison crowding", Los Angeles Times, p. A-11, retrieved October 23, 2009
- Sacramento Bee, p. A4, archived from the originalon October 25, 2009, retrieved October 23, 2009
- ^ Order to reduce prison population Archived 2010-12-18 at the Wayback Machine, three-judge court, convened by the Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit hearing Plata v. Schwarzenegger and Coleman v. Schwarzenegger
- ^ Orders in Pending Cases, Monday, June 14, 2010 (PDF), June 14, 2010
- ^ [1] [2], Oyez
- Sacramento Bee, p. A3, retrieved October 14, 2009[permanent dead link]
External links
- Plata v. Schwarzenegger case profile, Washington University School of Law
- Schwarzenegger v. Plata, Scotus wiki