By Kiera Riley | Arizona Capitol Times
Key Points:
- Federal judge orders prison health care receivership
- Court finds persistent unconstitutional medical failures
- Receiver to overhaul Arizona prison system
After nearly a decade and a half of litigation, a federal judge has cleared the way for a court-ordered takeover of medical and mental health care at the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry, citing chronic, persistent constitutional violations.
The order will effectively take the health care system out of the state’s hands and place it under the care of a third party to address and alleviate insufficient staffing and health care delivery.
“Plainly, only the imposition of the extraordinary can bring an end to this litigation and the reasons it was brought,” Judge Roslyn Silver wrote. “An end to unconstitutional preventable suicides. An end to unconstitutional preventable deaths. An end to unconstitutional failures to treat those in severe pain. The Motion for a Receiver will be granted.”
The class-action lawsuit came to the court in 2012, claiming inadequate medical, dental and mental health care, excessive isolation and insufficient conditions.
