The State : Incarceration Bill Signed

A bill that will allow authorities to keep violent, mentally ill prison inmates locked up after their prison sentences end has been signed into law by Gov. George Deukmejian. Under the bill by Sen. Dan McCorquodale (D-San Jose), a prisoner who is scheduled for release can be confined in a state mental hospital if a district attorney can prove that the inmate poses a danger to the public. The measure, which takes effect immediately, was prompted by the case of actress Theresa Saldana, who was attacked and nearly killed by Arthur Jackson, a mentally deranged drifter. Jackson, who is scheduled to be released from prison in March, has threatened to attack Saldana again, but McCorquodale said passage of the bill was too late to affect his case. An earlier measure by the senator would have kept Jackson and other violent prisoners in custody by requiring them to go to a mental hospital as a condition of parole, but that law was declared unconstitutional.