Dep't of Corr. v. Office of Admin. Hearings

This appeal presents a narrow issue concerning long-term involuntary medication of state prisoners who are alleged to be a danger to others as a result of mental disorder. Under the injunction entered after Keyhea v. Rushen (1986) 178 Cal.App.3d 526 [ 223 Cal.Rptr. 746 ] (hereafter the Keyhea injunction), the medical staff of the California Department of Corrections (CDC) cannot administer such medication without an order of authorization from an administrative law judge (ALJ) based on a showing of good cause. Such permission must be renewed periodically, and this case involves the showing required when the medication is to be extended beyond the period permitted by an initial order.

Renewed permission for the involuntary medication of respondent Chester Holmes based on his danger to others was denied for lack of evidence that he had threatened anyone while on medication pursuant to a prior order. Threats after a prior medication order are not a condition for a renewal order under the Keyhea injunction; the ALJ in Holmes’s case applied a standard for involuntary commitments under the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act (hereafter LPS; Welf. & Inst. Code, § 5000 et seq.) in…