The Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry is pushing back after a federal judge seized control of health care in the state’s prisons.
After 14 years of litigation, U.S. District Court judge Roslyn Silver last month said Arizona’s prisons were failing to provide adequate health care to inmates. And Silver took an extraordinary step, ruling a receiver must be appointed to oversee the prison health care system.
“The court’s patience has run out. Too many individuals are needlessly suffering while Defendants have deployed many delay tactics,” Silver wrote.
The Department of Corrections on Thursday filed an appeal in the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals.
In a statement last month, the department acknowledged it has not achieved full compliance with previous court orders, but said it has made measurable improvements in health care delivery over the past several years. And the department said taxpayers will foot the bill for the receivership.
“If this decision stands, an exorbitantly expensive, unnecessary receiver risks disrupting the significant progress we have made in our prisons, all with no time clock on its authority,” Department Director Ryan Thornell stated. “We will be promptly appealing the decision while continuing our work to comply with the Court’s orders and running a secure, safe, and accountable prison system.”
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