Loughner's lawyers fighting forced medication

A federal appeals court on Tuesday will consider how much authority prison officials have in forcibly medicating Jared Loughner, the Arizona man accused of killing six people and wounding 13 others, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, during a January shooting rampage.

Loughner has been held since late May at a federal prison hospital in Missouri. He was sent there for treatment after a judge concluded that Loughner was not mentally fit to stand trial for the shootings in a Tucson parking lot on Jan. 8.

His lawyers are fighting a decision by prison doctors to give him psychoactive medications against his will. Prosecutors argue that the drugs were administered because he was a danger to himself and others.

Story: Appeals court: No forced meds for Tucson shooting suspect

1. Only on msnbc.com

   1. Cheney: I don't think Iraq war hurt U.S. reputation
   2. Cheney: 'I didn't set out to embarrass' Bush
   3. Loughner's lawyers fighting forced medication
   4. After Irene, navigating tricky insurance-claim waters
   5. Updated 114 minutes ago 8/30/2011 1:18:41 PM +00:00 What others' embarrassing moments say about you
   6. NY firefighter's 9/11 memorial to fallen brother
   7. Single and seriously ill: Care circles fill in for family

For a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the issue is a simple one: Who gets to decide? Can the doctors give Loughner the drugs based on their own medical opinion, or must they first get approval from a judge?

In June, prison doctors began giving Loughner anti-psychotic medications against his will, in the belief that they were medically necessary to treat his symptoms of schizophrenia. In response to a challenge from his lawyers, a federal appeals court in July ordered the treatments to stop, while it considered the legal issues.

But less than a week later, prison doctors resumed giving him the drugs for a different reason.? They said he had become violent, endangering himself, other inmates, and prison staff.

Video: Judge to rule on Jared Lougher?s mental fitness (on this page)

The U.S. Supreme Court has never spelled out the rules that apply in a case like this, involving an inmate who has not been convicted, who is being held in order to see whether his mental competency can be restored, and who refuses to take medication to treat his mental problems.

Prosecutors argue that the reason Loughner is in a prison hospital do not matter. "The legitimate interest of a prison to maintain safety and security is the same whether the inmate is a pretrial detainee or a convicted prisoner," they argue in court filings.

"A dangerous inmate is a danger regardless of the state of his criminal case," they say.

But Loughner's lawyers argue that different legal standards should apply to an inmate who is being held for medical reasons and whose ability to stand trial and play a role in his own defense could be affected.

Story: Filing says Tucson shooting suspect spit on lawyer

"General restrictions of liberty intended to maintain the safety and security of a prison are not the same as the forcible administration of drugs that are intended to alter the thinking of an individual, may cause permanent and debilitating side effects, and may deprive the detainee of his right to a fair trial," they argue in their legal briefs.

A prison doctor testified at a separate hearing last week that Loughner paces and rocks back and forth during discussion sessions. At other times, the doctor said, he stands in a corner holding his face in his hands. Attempts to videotape sessions with his doctors produce angry outbursts, the doctor testified.

Earlier court filings said that Loughner threw a chair and spat at his lawyers before he was declared mentally unfit for trial.

The federal judge presiding over the criminal case has set a deadline of Sept. 6 for prison doctors to file a report indicating whether or not the hospital treatments have rendered Loughner mentally competent for trial.

? 2010 msnbc.com? Reprints

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44319262/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/

cupcakes travel agency hospitals prometheus qi gaza comedy central