Federal Judge Orders California Prison Officials To Further Reduce Number Of Mentally Ill Inmates In Segregation Units & Revise Related Policies

On April 10, 2014, the federal judge overseeing California’s efforts to reform how the prison system handles inmates with mental illness ordered the state to further reduce the number of mentally ill inmates in segregation units and revise related policies avoid placing such inmates in segregation for non-disciplinary reasons for more than 72 hours. About 28% of the approximately 118,000 state prisoners have mental illness; they are part of the Coleman class action lawsuit that alleged that the state provided inadequate mental health treatment and that the use of force was excessive. In the settlement agreement, the . . .