Arizona Agrees to Settlement to Improve Health Care, Limit Use of Solitary Confinement
by Lisa Dawson
(Photo: Tom Tingle / The Republic)
The Arizona Department of Corrections (ADC) has agreed to a settlement in a class-action lawsuit
filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the Prison Law
Office and their co-counsel on behalf of more than 33,000 people held in
state prisons.
Filed
in 2012, the landmark case was scheduled to go to trial earlier this
month in federal court. The lawsuit asserts that people held in ADC
prisons are not provided access to sufficient mental health
care, medical care and dental care, resulting in deaths. The suit also
alleges excessive use of solitary confinement by the state.
The settlement in Parsons v. Ryan
requires the ADC to put in place major measures to rectify extensive
inadequacies to its health care program, which a recent press release by
the ACLU describes as a "system plagued by long-term and systemic problems that caused numerous deaths and preventable injuries."
To
comply with the settlement, the ADC must meet over 100 health care
performance initiatives, including issues like monitoring people "with
diabetes, hypertension, and other chronic conditions; care for pregnant
prisoners; and dental care."
The
settlement also requires the ADC to implement new restrictions on
placing people suffering from mental illness in solitary confinement.
The ADC must further grant those with mental illnesses who are held in
isolation additional access to mental health treatment and more time
outside of their cells.
The
ACLU said, "Instead of spending all but six hours a week in their
cells, such prisoners will now have at least 19 hours a week outside the
cell, and this time must include mental health treatment and other
programming.”
The
settlement also restricts the use of pepper spray by guards on these
people, requiring that it only be used "as a last resort when necessary
to prevent serious injury or escape."
According to The Arizona Republic, the
settlement further states that chemical agents should be used only on
those deemed "seriously mentally ill" (SMI) in the instance of an
"imminent threat."
The
story also notes that the ADC denies the charges in the complaint,
maintaining "the settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing or
liability."
The agreement is to stay in effect for a minimum of four years.
The
ADC has consented to pay all attorneys' fees, which amount to $4.9
million, to the ACLU of Arizona and the other parties that filed suit.
The
settlement further includes terms allowing for continuous monitoring
and oversight by attorneys of the prisoners to ensure the state is in
compliance with the new regulations, thereby establishing a system of
checks and balances to ensure ADC is compliance with all new
regulations.
David
Fathi, the Director of the ACLU's National Prison Project, said, "We
hope other states will now find ways to provide adequate medical, mental
health, and dental care to their prisoners."
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