Cruel And Unusual Punishment

Cruel And Unusual Punishment

These are the news stories that make you wonder if you are getting an accurate depiction of the lawsuit involved, because the alternative is that judges are failing to use their authority to hold lawyers responsible for frivolous lawsuits. It's a sad day when I find myself on the same side as California Attorney-General Jerry Brown. From the January 22, 2009 Santa Rosa Press-Democrat:

SACRAMENTO -- California's attorney general asked a federal appeals court Wednesday to block what he described as an extravagant spending proposal for prison medical facilities.

The Legislature has refused to act on the request for $8 billion made by the court-appointed receiver overseeing overhaul of California's prison health care system. Receiver J. Clark Kelso is seeking an immediate $250 million as a down payment.

In his court filing, Attorney General Jerry Brown argued that a federal judge cannot order the money from the state treasury without violating federal law and state sovereignty.

Brown also criticized the receiver's spending proposal, saying it has not been subject to proper review. He said the plan includes regulation-size basketball courts, electronic bingo boards, music and art therapy rooms, and landscaping to hide fences.

Brown cited additional amenities in a news release accompanying his court filing, including yoga rooms and horticulture therapy, that were included in an earlier draft from the receiver's office.

I don't think that prisons have to be unnecessarily cruel places; it is sufficient if we remove people from the general population because they have demonstrated that they can't be trusted around decent people. But neither is there any need for them to resemble a senior citizens center. I am beginning to get just a hint from where California's financial crisis might be in part coming.