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| Tooth-extraction policy blasted |
| By The Mercury News |
| Published: 06/12/2008 |
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CALIFORNIA - State senators of both parties angrily challenged a top corrections official Wednesday over a controversial policy that has prompted female inmates to have their teeth removed in order to live in a special housing program with their small children. Jeffrey D. Thompson, who oversees prison dentists as the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation's health care operations director, agreed to investigate the unusual policy in response to questions from members of the Senate Rules Committee, who learned about it through an April article in the Mercury News. Thompson had appeared at the hearing seeking confirmation for the post, to which he was appointed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in December; instead, the rules committee members decided to postpone the vote until Thompson reports back to them. Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata likened the policy to "the kind of stuff that goes on in other countries and other regimes, not here." He opened his remarks by holding up a copy of the newspaper article, which detailed stories of women who decided to get their rotting and damaged teeth extracted by prison dentists in order to comply with a policy that allowed them to gain access to vocational and rehabilitation programs, including housing in a community correctional institution in Oakland. Read more. If link has expired, check the website of the article's original news source. |
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