noun-
Literally meaning *'J'-Category*
—>California prison slang<—
A commonly used phrase in California prisons indicating a
mentally unstable person, or someone whom is intentionally or unintentionally acting
mentally unstable. Most commonly refers to a person who has been involuntarily admitted to mental health services, but also may be used as a derogatory adjective.
Derived from inmate mental health codes found in Article 9 and inmate classification administrative determinants found in Article 10 of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation's Title 15, Rules and Regulations:
->"Article 9, section 3364.2 (j) The judicial hearing for an order authorizing the involuntary
administration of psychiatric medication to an inmate shall be conducted by an ALJ"
Note: the 2020 Title 15, Article 10, section 3375.2 (17) has been revised to remove the 'J' designation and replaced with a 'PSY' three-letter code.
Alternate spellings:
Jay-Cat
jaycat
"Hey man, you see that guy
over there? Yeah just don't interact with him, he's a j-cat for sure."
"Oh yeah, that guy Ronny just came back from Classification Committee and he's now a confirmed j-cat."
"I was
grocery shopping yesterday and some j-cat came up to me and just started incoherently blabbering."
"Yo, Billy just acts like a j-cat so he can get free psych meds."