Pen. Code, § 2653 · Article 1. Mistreatment of Prisoners
Pen. Code, § 2653
Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
(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.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Added by Stats. 1992, Ch. 602, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 1993.
Source of truth
- Edition
- As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
- Official file
- https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PEN§ionNum=2653.
- Text hash
- sha256 c88be5d1f5a3fa845aaa78ce6e6f438e9c857c98561d6ffe9411d66856b92c4c
- Composed by
- compose_ca.py 2026-10-22: the Legislative Counsel's CAML content files read by a tokenizer (caml_readers.reader_a); an independent xml.etree reading (caml_readers.reader_b) agrees on every section
This section cites
Provisions in this library that the text above cites, as it prints each citation. A range cited as “ss. 61.13-61.16” links its first and last provisions.
Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.