A federal judge ruled this afternoon that prison officials may continue forcing Jared Lee Loughner to take anti-psychotic medication.
Loughner’s attorneys argued that the government is trying to make an “end run” around legal procedures by forcing him to take medication without a court hearing.
But U.S. District Judge Larry A. Burns ruled Wednesday that federal prison officials made an independent decision that Loughner must be medicated to reduce his dangerousness to other people at the prison.
A prison doctor “reached an independent judgment that Mr. Loughner is dangerous and needs treatment,” Burns said. “I have no reason to disagree with doctors here. I didn’t go to medical school.”
Burns and Loughner's attorneys were at U.S. District Court in San Diego for the hearing, while prosecutors participated via a video link to Tucson's federal courthouse.
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Officials at the U.S. Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, Mo., held a hearing beside Loughner’s cell June 14 to determine if he was so dangerous that he needed to be medicated.
They began forcing him to take anti-psychotic medication June 21.
Defense attorneys for Loughner argued that there should be a court hearing before he is forced to take medication to be restored to competency for trial. But Burns said they were forcing him to take medication for a different purpose, for which a court hearing is unnecessary.
Loughner is charged with 49 crimes in the killing of six people and the wounding of 13 in a Jan. 8 shooting spree at an event hosted by U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was severely wounded.
