California court: Drugs can't be forced on mentally ill inmates
SAN FRANCISCO, California (AP) -- Mentally ill inmates cannot be forced to take anti-psychotic drugs, the California Supreme Court ruled Monday in a decision that affects hundreds of prisoners across the state.
The 6-1 decision concerns California inmates who have done their time for their convictions but have been found to be mentally unfit for release to the community. Those inmates are housed at state mental institutions until they are deemed fit for return to the community.
If they refuse anti-psychotic medication, the state cannot force them to take the drugs unless a judge authorizes it, the court ruled. A judge must find that the inmate is incompetent to refuse treatment and is immediate danger to himself or others.
The case involved Kanuri Surgury Qawi, sentenced to four years in 1991 for assault and battery. On parole, he was arrested for stalking a sales clerk he claimed was his wife.
While incarcerated the second time, authorities diagnosed him with paranoid schizophrenia, and he has repeatedly been kept from the community. In 2000, he challenged his involuntary treatment and said the drugs' side effects were unbearable.
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