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Arizona accused of skirting requirement in prison settlement
Attorneys who brought a class-action lawsuit over the quality of health care in Arizona's prisons said Friday that the state is trying to skirt a requirement in a settlement that mental health professionals see inmates who have recently been taken off psychotropic medications.
Prisoners claim DOC fails to meet obligations under legal settlement
The Department of Corrections is returning to court on claims the agency is shirking its obligation under a year-old lawsuit settlement to improve health care for prisoners.
Prisons received nearly $1 million to cover leap year costs
The only agency in Arizona that requires leap year funding was allocated more than $900,000 to cover the costs of one extra calendar day.
8 corrections officers sue, claim unsafe working conditions
A corrections officer who was sexually assaulted by an inmate at the Yuma state prison is among eight prison guards suing Department of Corrections Director Charles Ryan and the state of Arizona for conditions they contend led to assaults and injuries.
Republicans see problems with JTED cuts, prison spending
Lawmakers at the joint Appropriations Committee briefing on Gov. Doug Ducey’s budget proposal Jan. 19 were only allotted time for one question each following the budget presentation, but the questions they asked were telling.
Lawsuit alleges officer revealed inmate’s role as informant
A former Arizona jail inmate alleges in a lawsuit that a detention officer endangered his life a year ago by revealing to gang members that he was helping investigators as an informant.
State prisons start new program for veterans
The Arizona Department of Corrections is launching a new program aimed at helping incarcerated veterans successfully re-enter society and avoid returning to prison.
DOC turns over troubled private prison to new company
The Department of Corrections handed the keys to the damaged, troubled private prison in Kingman to a new company that runs two other prisons for the state.
For-profit prisons are bad public policy and contrary to Arizona values
The for-profit prisons have become very prolific lobbyists, shoveling more than $10 million to candidates since 1989 and have spent nearly $25 million on lobbying. GEO Group alone reported $650,000 in federal lobbying expenses in 2014. In addition, they spent over $5.7 million on state and local political contributions between 2003 and 2014, according to data compiled by the National Institute on[...]
Critics protest money allocated for prison expansion
Groups that advocate for sentencing reform and human services said today the prime example of the misplaced spending priorities of lawmakers is putting the planned expansion of up to 2,000 prison beds up for bid to private prison companies.
Sen. Pierce sponsors bill to ease prison crowding
A GOP senator is sponsoring a bill that could lead to the release of thousands of prisoners, a proposal that comes as fellow Republicans are calling for fewer prison beds.
Appeals court revives lawsuit on Arizona prison assault
A federal appeals court has revived a lawsuit which accused Arizona prison officials of failing to protect an inmate who was brutally stomped by two other inmates while a single corrections officer escorted the three inmates within the Lewis prison complex in Buckeye.
