Judge Mandates Overhaul of Health Care Services in Arizona Prisons Following Prolonged Neglect

PHOENIX – In a significant move, a federal judge has decided to intervene in the health care management of Arizona’s prisons. This comes after persistent issues and complaints concerning substandard medical and mental health services provided to inmates.

On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Roslyn Silver announced her decision following a 2022 ruling where she determined that Arizona had breached prisoners’ rights. The ruling highlighted the inadequate care that resulted in unnecessary suffering and preventable fatalities.

Judge Silver criticized the state’s prolonged non-compliance with both court mandates and constitutional requirements, despite nearly 14 years of legal proceedings. She remarked, “This approach has not only failed completely but, if continued, amounts to judicial tolerance of deeply rooted unconstitutional behavior.”

The judge pointed out that inmates continue to face “an intolerable grave and immediate threat of ongoing harm and suffering,” due to the pervasive systemic failures in health care administration.

Following the order, the Associated Press reached out to the corrections department for a response. Meanwhile, the state and lawyers for the inmates have been given 60 days to propose a list of potential candidates to oversee the health and mental health operations in these facilities.

“This decision means that an independent authority will be able to implement the systemic changes necessary to ensure that medical and mental health care meets constitutional standards,” said David Fathi, one of the lawyers representing the prisoners. “This is a life-saving intervention, and it brings hope that the preventable suffering and deaths that have haunted Arizona’s prison system for over a decade can finally end.”

Lawyers for prisoners say Arizona has made few improvements since the verdict and asked the judge for the more drastic remedy of creating such a “receivership,” arguing system remains broken and prisoners who need care are still in danger.

For over a decade, state government has been dogged by criticism that its health care system for the 25,000 inmates in Arizona’s state-run prisons was run shoddily and callously.

The state had vowed to overhaul medical and mental health services for prisoners in a 2014 settlement, but was soon accused of failing to keep many of those promises. That led to $2.5 million in contempt of court fines against the state and, eventually, the revocation of the agreement by Silver, who explained that corrections officials had shown little interest in making the changes.

The judge then ruled against the state at a 2022 trial, issuing an injunction requiring corrections authorities to fix the constitutional violations.

While attorneys for prisoners say the state lacks the leadership to comply within a reasonable amount of time, the corrections department said it has transformed the prison health care system over the last two years, such as expanding access to treatments, increasing staff and opening medical housing units.

Corrections officials say the opposing side refuses to acknowledge their progress and “focus on the reputation and circumstances of the past rather than recognizing or even supporting the good work of the present.” Lawyers for the department say the agency’s leadership has been acting in good faith with the court’s orders.

In September 2019 lawyers representing the prisoners made a similar request for a takeover, but shied away from it, saying she would revive that possibility if the state acts in bad faith or fails to comply with the court-ordered changes. Past receiverships have been ordered for prisons in other states. In California in 2005, a federal judge seized control of the prison medical system after finding that an average of one inmate a week was dying of medical neglect or malpractice.

The Arizona lawsuit does not cover the nearly 10,000 people incarcerated in private prisons for state convictions.