State, Prison Health Care Receiver Face Off in Court

On Monday, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments in the case between the state and California prison health care receiver J. Clark Kelso over a plan to spend $8 billion to build seven new health care facilities for prison inmates. California Attorney General Jerry Brown (D) argued that a San Francisco federal judge violated the federal Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1996 and the U.S. Constitution's guarantee of state sovereignty when he ordered the governor and controller to provide a $250 million down payment for the project or risk being held in contempt.

• "State Fights Inmate Health Project Order" (Walsh, Sacramento Bee, 12/9).