Arizona has a prison oversight office, but no funding. Advocate says that money is crucial

Violence erupted among prisoners at the Arizona State Prison Complex-Eyman late last month. Multiple people were injured and Arizona Correctional Peace Officers Association President Carlos Garcia called it a “full-blown riot.”

And, earlier this month, reports surfaced that as many as 200 prisoners at Perryville, the women’s complex in our state, went on a hunger strike for nearly three weeks.

It comes as two GOP lawmakers are trying to get some crucial funding for a prison oversight office.

Rep. Walt Blackman and Sen. Shawnna Bolick want $1.5 million to fund the newly created Independent Correctional Oversight Office. Lawmakers created the office and the governor signed it a few years ago — but without any funding to make it operational.

Bryan Widenhouse also wants that office funded. He’s an advocate for prison reforms as state legislative affairs manager for FAMM, or Families Against Mandatory Minimums. And, he knows the issues intimately. He spent more than three decades behind bars. He was sentenced to life without parole at age 17. But, was granted parole in 2020 after the Supreme Court outlawed life sentences like that for juveniles.

The Show spoke with him more about life behind bars, and how it led him to his work today.

Full conversation

BRYAN WIDENHOUSE: Obviously, things like hunger strikes and riots do bubble up into the news. But as someone who works at FAMM, we're connected to tens of thousands of families across the country. And so we constantly hear firsthand from them what their loved ones are actually experiencing on the inside, much of what the general public will never hear about.

But across the country, our prison systems are in a bit of a crisis. They're severely understaffed, overcrowded, and there's a lot of issues going on that the public is not widely aware of. And we just feel that there just needs to be a little more attention to what's going on and how we can take corrective measures.

LAUREN GILGER: So, I mean like when you see, you know, news of a hunger strike or a riot breaking out in a prison, like what are prisoners trying to tell us when these things happen?

BRYAN WIDENHOUSE: Right. So, it's very difficult for people who are incarcerated to get the attention of media, of lawmakers, of the public. And probably historically, the, the best way to achieve that is through hunger strikes. It draws the attention because it does trigger certain responses. You know, the, the administration and staff can't ignore it. There's certain things in reporting that has to happen.

You know, it could be their, their rights are being violated or the conditions are abhorrent, it's unsafe, for a variety of reasons. But that is the mechanism to getting their voices out.

LAUREN GILGER: Yeah. So, Bryan, I want to back up for a moment here and talk about your own story and background that led you to this work, right? Like, you were incarcerated for many, many years. You were sent to prison on a life sentence as a, as a teenager, and then let out when the Supreme Court decided that wasn't a policy we would support in this country anymore, right?

BRYAN WIDENHOUSE: That's correct. You know, as a person who was incarcerated with a life sentence, that was it. I was sent to prison there to live the rest of my life and die there. The only way, as many people who are in the system today, the only way that we ever can change our circumstances is through a change in the law or some kind of legislative remedy. In this case, it's a Supreme Court decision.

But that's not — I think we need to have a more open mind to reviewing laws and sentences that have been passed down. You know, we — our country went through a very tough-on-crime era.

And you know, we've learned a lot since those days, both in corrections and in crime. And sometimes, it, it's good to go back and review some of these decisions, some of these laws. And when we've done so, as in the case with juvenile life sentences, right, we've been able to pivot and—and make some changes.

Close to 1,200, I believe, juvenile lifers who have been released, and the recidivism rate is—is minuscule, like 2% maybe.

LAUREN GILGER: Wow. So, I mean, tell us about — I mean, what it was like when you were in prison for so long. I mean, were you part of, a part of a hunger strike at some point? Did you see those happen? Was there a riot when you were in prison? What were the conditions like?

BRYAN WIDENHOUSE: In 31 years, you pretty much seen it all. I have seen some hunger strikes. I have seen some small riots, uprisings, you know, what constitutes a riot. You know, everybody has their own definition, but I've seen it all.

You know, people do — when you're under that kind of suppression and nobody's hearing you or seeing you, people do get desperate. And it's not attention that, "Hey, you know, have pity on me." It's an attention that says, "Hey, please, you know, this is not right. We need some help." You know, it, it's a cry for help in some instances, not every instance, but in some instances, yes, I've seen that, cry for help.

LAUREN GILGER: So, I know you work with various states on advocacy for prison policies. So let's talk a little bit about what's been happening in recent years in Arizona prisons.

Obviously, our prison healthcare system has been under scrutiny in court for a very long time and now is under federal receivership. That is a part of probably what leads to some of the issues in prisoners, if people are sick and can't get the help they need?

BRYAN WIDENHOUSE: Yeah, there are a number of factors. One that's rising a lot in this day and age, especially in Southern prisons, is the, the prison heat during the summers. You know, we don't approach the idea of an ombudsman or oversight from a critical standpoint. We think it's good governance. We think it's uh leads to better efficiency, best practices and gives legislators, the administration, the knowledge and tools that they need to make the best informed decisions.

LAUREN GILGER: Right, and lawmakers here did, you know, pass legislation to create an office of oversight over the Department of Corrections, but it's still un-funded. We've seen advocates, a couple of GOP lawmakers push for putting some money behind that so it can be effective.

But I mean, have you seen success with those in other states?

BRYAN WIDENHOUSE: Very much so. Our organization, FAMM, has supported and worked closely with some ombuds offices in other states who have found that right balance. I think when we think of oversight, most people tend to think of somebody who's just looking over your shoulder trying to hold you accountable and, and see what you're doing wrong.

But there's a proper right balance where it really works and it's a good, you know, mutual beneficial relationship between legislature, the agent— corrections department, and the ombuds, and, and the families who are impacted. And so, some great examples are Indiana, New Jersey, Hawaii, Washington.

LAUREN GILGER: Right now, I mentioned there are some lawmakers who are pushing for some funding for this oversight department, this office of oversight over Department of Corrections.

Where is that process stand now? We're still kind of looking at the budget as up in the air at this moment, but are you hopeful that is something that can get some funding?

BRYAN WIDENHOUSE: We are very hopeful, crossing our fingers here. It's an important issue with us. So, the office was created last year, but it needs funding to begin. And there's a request for $1.5 million, which is a drop in the bucket compared to the overall DOC budget. We do understand that a budget process is complex and the state has limited resources, but this is very important.

LAUREN GILGER: Let me ask you lastly, Bryan, about the role you think for-profit companies play in, in corrections, right? Like, so many of our prisons are not state-run. They are run by, you know, for-profit companies that the state contracts with and pays a whole lot of money to to to run these these prisons for them, corrections in general.

Do you think that that has changed the game, changed the conversation in corrections in the time probably that you were incarcerated?

BRYAN WIDENHOUSE: Interesting. You know, as an advocate and as somebody who tries to work with the legislator, the government agencies, the Department of Corrections, I don't ever want to be critical of people or their operations.

But I will say that we do see some disturbing or alarming concerns when it come from some for-profit, some medical issues. You know, from my own personal experiences having been in the system in a state-run system in close proximity to a private system, there's there's huge differences in how they operate and the culture and environment. And I just, without being critical of agencies or the use of them, I would just say there's a lot to to be concerned about there.

LAUREN GILGER: Okay, we'll leave it there. Bryan Widenhouse is state legislative affairs manager for FAMM, Families Against Mandatory Minimums. Bryan, thank you for coming on the show. Thank you for your perspective here, I really appreciate it.

BRYAN WIDENHOUSE: Thank you for having me.

KJZZ's The Show transcripts are created on deadline. This text is edited for length and clarity, and may not be in its final form. The authoritative record of KJZZ's programming is the audio record.

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