SECTIONS 2650-2657 - California Statutes

PENAL CODE

SECTION 2650-2657

2650. The person of a prisoner sentenced to imprisonment in the
State prison is under the protection of the law, and any injury to
his person, not authorized by law, is punishable in the same manner
as if he were not convicted or sentenced.

2651. No punishment, except as may be authorized by the Director of
Corrections, shall be inflicted and then only by the order and under
the direction of the wardens. Nothing in this section shall be
construed as a limitation or impairment of the authority of the Board
of Prison Terms in exercising its functions.

2652. It shall be unlawful to use in the prisons, any cruel,
corporal or unusual punishment or to inflict any treatment or allow
any lack of care whatever which would injure or impair the health of
the prisoner, inmate or person confined; and punishment by the use of
the strait-jacket, gag, thumb-screw, shower-bath or the tricing up
of prisoners, inmates or persons confined is hereby prohibited. Any
person who violates the provisions of this section or who aids,
abets, or attempts in any way to contribute to the violation of this
section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

2652.5. No person employed by the Department of Corrections, the
Department of the Youth Authority, or any city or county jail
facility shall place any chain or other mechanical restraint around
the neck of any prisoner for any purpose. Any violation of this
section shall be a misdemeanor.

2653. (a) If a physician employed by the Department of Corrections
or the Department of the Youth Authority certifies in writing that a
particular medical treatment is required to prevent a violation of
Section 147, 673, 2650, or 2652, or is required to prevent serious
and imminent harm to the health of a prisoner, the order for that
particular medical treatment may not be modified or canceled by any
employee of the department without the approval of the chief medical
officer of the institution or the physician in attendance unless an
inmate or ward has a known history of violent or otherwise disruptive
behavior that requires additional measures to protect the safety and
security of the institution specified in writing by the warden or
superintendent, or unless immediate security needs require alternate
or modified procedures. Following any necessary modified or alternate
security procedures, treatment of the inmate or ward shall be
effected as expeditiously as possible.
Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent a registered
nurse from questioning, or seeking clarification of, an order from a
physician that in the professional judgment of that nurse endangers
patient health or safety, or otherwise is contrary to the
professional ethics of the registered nurse.
(b) Any person who violates this section shall be subject to
appropriate disciplinary action by the department.

2656. (a) A person sentenced to incarceration or who is being held
pursuant to a pending criminal matter in a county or city jail, or
other county or city custodial correctional facility shall not be
deprived of the possession or use of any orthopedic or prosthetic
appliance, if such appliance has been prescribed or recommended and
fitted by a physician.
(b) If, however, the person in charge of the county or city
custodial or correctional facility has probable cause to believe
possession of such orthopedic or prosthetic appliance constitutes an
immediate risk of bodily harm to any person in the facility or
threatens the security of the facility, such appliance may be
removed.
If such appliance is removed, the prisoner shall be deprived of
such appliance only during such time as the facts which constitute
probable cause for its removal continue to exist; if such facts cease
to exist, then the person in charge of the facility shall return
such appliance to the prisoner.
When such appliance is removed, the prisoner shall be examined by
a physician within 24 hours after such removal.
If the examining physician determines that removal is or will be
injurious to the health or safety of the prisoner, he shall so inform
the prisoner and the person in charge of the facility. Upon receipt
of the physician's opinion, the person in charge of the facility
shall either return the appliance to the prisoner or refuse to return
such appliance to the prisoner, informing the physician and the
prisoner of the reasons for such refusal and promptly providing the
prisoner with a form, as specified in subdivision (c) of this
section, by which the prisoner may petition the superior court of the
county in which the facility is located for return of the appliance.
Upon petition by the prisoner, the court shall either order the
appliance returned to the petitioner or within two judicial days
after the petition is filed receive evidence relevant to the granting
or denial of the petition. When evidence is received, the court
shall consider the opinion of the physician who examined the prisoner
and the opinion of the person in charge of the facility and all
other evidence it deems relevant. A decision shall be promptly made
and shall be based upon a weighing of the risk of immediate harm to
persons within the facility and the threat to the security of the
facility created by the appliance's presence in the facility as
against the risk to the health and safety of the petitioner by its
removal.
(c) The form for a request for return of an orthopedic or
prosthetic appliance as required in subdivision (b) of this section
shall be substantially as follows:

(Name of the facility) ____ day of ____ 19__
I, ____ (person in charge of the facility), have today received a
request for the return of an orthopedic or prosthetic appliance,
namely, ____ (description of appliance or device) from the
undersigned prisoner.
_______________________________
Signature or mark of prisoner
making request for return of
appliance or device

When the prisoner has signed or made his mark upon such form, the
person in charge of the facility shall promptly file the completed
form with the superior court.
(d) No person incarcerated in any facility of the Department of
Corrections shall be deprived of the use or possession of any
orthopedic or prosthetic appliance unless both the inmate's personal
physician and a department physician concur in the professional
opinion that such appliance is no longer needed.

2657. (a) No person confined in a state prison, as defined in
Section 4504, shall be subject to any institutional disciplinary
action subsequent to an acquittal in a court of law upon criminal
charges brought and tried for the act or omission which is the sole
basis of the institutional disciplinary action.
(b) Where the act or omission resulting in acquittal is in any way
referred to in any Department of Corrections file pertaining to the
prisoner, the fact of acquittal by a court of law shall be clearly
inscribed near each such reference.