Section 2656 Of Article 1. Mistreatment Of Prisoners From California Penal Code >> Title 1. >> Part 3. >> Chapter 4. >> Article 1.
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: