Federal judge backs whistleblower, blasts CA prisons on care of mentally ill inmates

In a sternly worded order, a federal judge has found California’s top prison officials intentionally filed misleading data to the court on how frequently mentally ill inmates receive psychiatric care, and she signaled that court oversight of mental health care inside prisons will continue until the state meets its constitutional obligations to prisoners.

The order by U.S. District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller in Sacramento federal court also validates claims by by Dr. Michael Golding, the state prison system’s chief psychiatrist, who compiled a secret whistleblower report last year accusing the state of providing false and misleading data to the court to cover up woefully inadequate psychiatric care.

Mueller found that the state was so determined to get out from under years of court-ordered supervision of mental health care services that it fudged data on how frequently more than 32,000 mentally ill inmates were being seen by psychiatrists and the amount of care that was being provided.

“In the final analysis, inexplicably, it is apparent defendants lost complete sight of the reasons remediation is required here,” the judge wrote in a 49-page order issued late Tuesday. “Defendants adopted a laser focus in an effort to obtain termination of court supervision, which led to a stark ‘ends justify the means’ approach.

“Their litigation tactics have wholly missed the significance of the constitutional rights of the thousands of mentally ill persons defendants have in their custody.”

Whistleblower faces retaliation

Golding has remained in his post with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation since delivering his 161-page whistleblower report to an official overseeing medical care inside the prisons.

But he has faced retaliation in his job since then despite the judge’s order that no action be taken against him or other corrections official who came forward, his lawyer said Wednesday.

“It’s been extremely difficult for Dr. Golding and other whistleblowers who have come forward,” attorney Wendy Musell said. “Despite the risk for his own career, it was important for him to bring these issues forward.

“We’ve raised issues (with the judge) about ongoing retaliation. The defense in this case by CDCR was to blame the whistleblowers, as reflected in the court’s order. That obviously didn’t work. The truth did prevail.”

CDCR spokesman Jeffrey Callison said the department is “reviewing the order” and offered no comment on the judge’s findings. He confirmed that Golding remained in his job but would not comment on Musell’s retaliation claims.

“We don’t publicly discuss personnel matters,” Callison wrote in an email response to The Bee.

The judge noted in her order that CDCR had tried to portray Golding during a hearing in October as a difficult employee who “just about disagrees with everyone” and has a “pro-psychiatry bias,” but she rejected those notions.

“Based on the substance of his testimony and his demeanor on the witness stand, the court finds Dr. Golding credible,” Mueller wrote. “His observations and conclusions overall are well-founded...

“Whether or not Dr. Golding has a disagreeable side, which was not evident during his testimony, is irrelevant to whether he testified credibly and knowledgeably. And it would be understandable if he has a pro-psychiatry bias. He is, after all, a chief psychiatrist with CDCR, and it is hard to see how advocating for his professional counterparts and the integrity of the mental health care delivery system in CDCR displays a bias that undermines his credibility.”

Mueller’s order notes that there is no evidence that officials committed “intentional fraud” in filing misleading data with the court.

“The standard for a finding of fraud on the court is a high one and, as the court found from the bench, is one not met here,” she wrote.

California gave misleading data to federal court

However, Mueller added “it is clear defendants have presented misleading information to the court” and suggested part of that may stem from “the considerable bureaucratic dysfunction within defendants’ operations.”

Golding testified in October that some misleading data stemmed from prison officials changing the requirement that inmates receive monthly psychiatric treatment to 45 and then 60 days, a move that made the “dashboard” tracking appointments turn from red to green.

He also said the state relied on clinicians rather than psychiatrists to provide vital care to mentally ill inmates.

Michael Bien, the lead attorney in the lawsuit known as the Coleman case that has been pending on behalf of the inmates since 1990 and has gone to the U.S. Supreme Court, said he hopes the judge will soon issue an order that CDCR file data with the court that is accurate and confirmed as such by department officials.

He also said he hopes the judge will allow the inmates’ lawyers greater access to information inside the department “so we can do a better job checking up on them.”

“Part of the problem is public officials do not understand that Coleman is a lawsuit that the state has already lost,” Bien said. “They’ve been found guilty of violating the Constitution and these court orders are being on them.”

Bien said that three years ago the judge gave corrections officials one year to come into compliance with staffing levels for mental health care, but noted that Mueller’s order says that “ still today, however, psychiatrist staffing vacancies hover at the 30 percent mark.”

Just before Golding issued his whistleblower report, Bien and his team were preparing to come to an agreement with the state to accept a lower number of psychiatrists in the prisons based on information they were receiving from CDCR.

But that deal was blown apart by Golding’s allegations, and Bien said Wednesday the “loss of trust (with CDCR) is one of the most damaging parts of the Golding report.”

But, he added that he hopes Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration will be more receptive to working to improve care in the prisons.

“They have a lot to do,” Bien said. “It’s much further away than I thought it was.

“We have to get confidence in their data data and information. We have to get confidence that they have people in place that are going to tell the truth and be open about challenges so we can work together.”

This story was originally published December 18, 2019 at 11:46 AM with the headline "Federal judge backs whistleblower, blasts CA prisons on care of mentally ill inmates."