Feb. 26, 2021
Arizona corrections officials have been hit with more fines for failure to comply with orders to improve health care for the tens of thousands of men and women in its custody. (Photo by Matthew Hendley/Creative Commons)
PHOENIX – For the second time since 2019, the Arizona Department of Corrections has been found in contempt for its failure to follow health care guidelines designed to protect prisoners.
In a ruling issued Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge Roslyn Silver fined the Arizona Department of Corrections Rehabilitation & Reentry $1.1 million for neglecting health care guidelines the department agreed to follow in 2015. The fine is to be paid this month.
A federal judge has once again held the Arizona Department of Corrections in contempt for providing poor health care in state prisons.In a ruling issued Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge Roslyn Silver fined the Arizona Department of Corrections $1.1 million for failing to meet prison health care benchmarks the state agreed to years ago.In a 2015 settlement, the Department
Updated: Friday, February 12, 2021 - 8:47am
Johnny Cash famously sang about shooting a man in Reno, “just to watch him die in his legendary “Folsom Prison Blues.” In the song “Money Trees,” Pulitzer Prize-winning rapper Kendrick Lamar proclaims “the one in front of the gun lives forever.” While both songs depict gun violence, only one is banned in Arizona prisons.
When an inmate receives a letter, magazine, book or CD in the mail, prison administrators review the materials first. If the items fall within one of several broad categories established by Arizona Department of Corrections guidelines, the inmate is denied the material. Reasons for exclusion can include “depictions of street gangs” to “descriptions of drug paraphernalia.”