Virtually all of the news stories covering last weeks U.S. Supreme Court decision requiring California to reduce its prison population failed to connect a couple of very important dots.
The decades-old lawsuit was initially filed because of the states inability or unwillingness to provide prisoners with adequate mental health care services.
As Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote for the majority For years the medical and mental health care provided by Californias prisons has fallen short of minimum constitutional requirements and has failed to meet prisoners basic health needs."
So what do legislators want to do about the states deplorable record of providing prisoners with adequate health care? Why put every Golden Stater in government-run health care of course!
The legislature has passed a state-run single-payer health care system three times. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed the first two attempts. The third was pulled last December because Democrats thought theyd have a better chance getting newly elected Gov. Jerry Brown to sign a bill.
Never mind that the legislation was estimated to cost $200 billion when the state at the time couldnt even figure out how to cover its current $25 billion deficitor provide care for its prisoners.
So thousands of prisoners will be free yet every Californian may find himself a prisonerof unconstitutionally inadequate state-run health care. Theres a lesson to be learned for Medicare and ObamaCareif anyone is listening.
Virtually all of the news stories covering last weeks U.S. Supreme Court decision requiring California to reduce its prison population failed to connect a couple of very important dots.
The decades-old lawsuit was initially filed because of the states inability or unwillingness to provide prisoners with adequate mental health care services.
As Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote for the majority For years the medical and mental health care provided by Californias prisons has fallen short of minimum constitutional requirements and has failed to meet prisoners basic health needs."
So what do legislators want to do about the states deplorable record of providing prisoners with adequate health care? Why put every Golden Stater in government-run health care of course!
The legislature has passed a state-run single-payer health care system three times. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed the first two attempts. The third was pulled last December because Democrats thought theyd have a better chance getting newly elected Gov. Jerry Brown to sign a bill.
Never mind that the legislation was estimated to cost $200 billion when the state at the time couldnt even figure out how to cover its current $25 billion deficitor provide care for its prisoners.
So thousands of prisoners will be free yet every Californian may find himself a prisonerof unconstitutionally inadequate state-run health care. Theres a lesson to be learned for Medicare and ObamaCareif anyone is listening.
