Psychiatric hospital for death row inmates

[Jazzy]

Under court pressure to improve psychiatric care for deeply disturbed death row inmates, state officials are moving quickly to open a 40-bed hospital at San Quentin prison to house them.

The court-appointed monitor of mental health care in California's prison system reported to judges Tuesday that about three dozen men on death row are so mentally ill that they require inpatient care, with 24-hour nursing.

The plan calls for taking over and retrofitting most of a new medical unit recently built at the prison. A spokeswoman for the court's prison medical office said San Quentin officials plan to use medical facilities at other prisons if a shortage of beds arises as a result.

In December, after weeks of courtroom testimony on the treatment of about 10 unidentified death row prisoners, U.S. District Judge Lawrence Karlton ordered the state to provide condemned inmates access to inpatient psychiatric care. The court files show negotiations and planning began almost immediately.

Federal courts have ruled that it is unconstitutional to execute people who are not aware of what is happening to them. "We are curing them to make them executable," Zimring said.

But San Francisco prisoners' rights lawyer Michael Bien, who argued the San Quentin case in court last fall, regards adequate psychiatric care as a fundamental right.

Some analysts see irony in providing for the long-term mental health of those sentenced to die.

Source

Do you think adequate psychiatric care is a fundamental right for these death row inmates? Why / Why not?

 

[Sinon]

Realistically, no. They're going to be killed, why be so concerned with their well-being? It's a farce.

 

[DrLeftover]

Please explain the difference between a Psychopath and a Politician to me, again.

 

[Evil Eye]

It's a farce.

Sort of, but still, there might be something to gain.

Or several things:
1. Experience; get new psychiatrists to work with them. Won't matter if they screw up.
2. Research!
3. Maybe one of them will be pardoned... would be nice if they were stable then.