California considers new rules on dealing with mentally ill inmates

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Oct 24, 2013

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California considers new rules on dealing with mentally ill inmates

Prison officials had been accused of mistreating and neglecting those prisoners, who make up a third of the inmate population.

One of the main circulation areas with treatment rooms and and offices is seen at the of the newly opened mental health treatment unit at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville, Calif., Thursday, Feb. 14, 2013. The $24 million treatment center for mentally ill inmates opened on Thursday as state corrections officials used the occasion to push for ending federal oversight of that aspect of prison operations. The 44,000-square-foot building includes rooms where inmates will undergo individual, group and recreational outpatient therapy. It will be used to treat inmates who are seriously mentally ill but are able to function without around-the-clock care.

Prison officials had been accused of mistreating and neglecting those prisoners, who make up a third of the inmate population.

California's prisons are considering new rules in how they deal with mentally ill inmates.

Prison officials had been accused of mistreating and neglecting those prisoners, who make up a third of the inmate population. The announcement of these new rules comes as a federal judge has said the state must provide public copies of videotapes showing mentally ill prisoners being sprayed repeatedly with pepper spray.

For the latest on all of this, we're joined again by LA Times reporter Paige St John.