PARSONS V RYAN settlement approved by US District Court Judge Duncan

#CHUCKCHUCK #DARTHryan #DarkSideRyan  #FireChuckRyan" 

#DELIBERATEindifferenceKILLS

---------------------from the AZ Republic-----------

Judge approves Arizona inmate health-care settlement

Craig Harris, The Republic | azcentral.com 
9:55 a.m. MST February 19, 2015


A federal judge on Wednesday approved a settlement that will provide improved health-care coverage for about 34,000 Arizona inmates in state-run facilities at a cost to taxpayers of at least $8 million a year.

The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Arizona and the Prison Law Office, a prisoner-advocacy group, reached a settlement with the Arizona Department of Corrections last October, days before a trial was to start.

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of state-prison inmates, alleged that Arizona's inmate health-care system was so flawed that it caused deaths and preventable injuries. It also accused the state of keeping inmates in solitary confinement for long periods of time.

The state denied the allegations, and admitted no wrongdoing in agreeing to the settlement.

"This is a small glimpse of justice," said Patti Jones, whose nephew, Tony Lester, killed himself in a state prison. "I think this is a just settlement."

Jones was one of seven people to address U.S. Magistrate Judge David K. Duncan, who approved the settlement. Duncan also authorized $4.9 million in fees for the attorneys who represented the inmates.

The fees must be paid by the state. Duncan noted the amount for plaintiffs' attorneys nearly mirrored the amount the state spent in legal bills defending itself, bringing the state's total legal tab to about $10 million.

Gov. Doug Ducey is asking lawmakers for $8 million in his proposed budget for the coming fiscal year so the state's contracted inmate health-care provider, Corizon Health, can hire 91 additional health-care workers to comply with the settlement requirements.

The settlement requires DOC to:

• Meet more than 100 health-care performance measures, covering issues such as monitoring prisoners with diabetes, hypertension and other chronic conditions.

• Offer all inmates annual influenza vaccinations. Those with chronic diseases will be offered required immunizations.

• Offer inmates aged 50 to 75 annual colorectal cancer screening.

• Offer female inmates aged 50 and older mammogram screenings.

• Provide no less than 6 hours per week of out-of-cell exercise time for maximum-custody inmates.

• Provide maximum-custody inmates with serious mental illness an additional 10 hours of unstructured out-of-cell time per week.

• Only use pepper spray or other chemical agents during an imminent threat.

The settlement also allows attorneys for inmates and their experts to conduct up to 20 daily tours of state prison complexes annually to make sure the agreement is being enforced.

Donna Hamm, executive director of Middle Ground Prison Reform, said she liked the settlement but is unhappy that the state will have up to two weeks' advance notice prior to a tour.

"Some of the visits should be spontaneous and not announced," said Hamm, an outspoken critic of the Arizona prison system. "But overall, this is an improvement."

Daniel Struck, a private attorney representing the state, said DOC already has started to implement changes called for in the settlement.

David Fathi, director of the ACLU National Prison Project, called the settlement "real improvement" in the care of inmates.

The settlement does not apply to the roughly 7,000 inmates in six private prisons across Arizona.

ON THE BEAT

Craig Harris covers the Arizona Department of Corrections and other state and federal agencies, with an emphasis on government accountability and public money.

How to reach him

craig.harris@arizonarepublic.com
Phone: 602-444-8478
Twitter: @charrisazrep

Monica Jones' Conviction Overturned in AZ Superior Court!

Hooray!The state will no doubt want to refile charges, so stay tuned. I suspect this isn't over...

Sent: Monday, January 26, 2015 10:20 AM
Subject: ACLU News: Monica Jones Conviction Overturned

Good afternoon,

Crystal here from the ACLU, writing to inform you that Monica Jones’ conviction for manifesting intent to solicit prostitution was overturned today by the Superior Court of Arizona.

Jones was arrested and charged in May 2013 under a Phoenix law that the ACLU and others have argued is unconstitutional. In April 2014 she was convicted and then in August of that year she appealed her conviction. The ACLU filed an amicus brief in support of her appeal and has been supporting her since her arrest. Here is a background blog on her case: https://www.aclu.org/blog/lgbt-rights/when-walking-down-street-crime.

Monica Jones comment:
 
“Today is a great day! My wrongful conviction under the Phoenix manifestation law was vacated this morning. I am so grateful to my legal team and all of my supporters across the country and world. My conviction being vacated is important but it is a small win in our larger fight for justice. There are so many trans women and cisgender women who might be charged under this law in Phoenix and similar laws across the country. There is so much more work that needs to be done so that no one will have to face what I have no matter who they are or what past convictions they have.”

Comments from legal team:

• Jean-Jacques “J” Cabou, a partner at the law firm of PerkinsCoie who represented Monica in her appeal and argued her case, said: “Monica was convicted in an unconstitutional trial, under an unconstitutional law, of a crime she didn’t commit.  We are incredibly pleased that the appellate court agreed that Monica was unconstitutionally denied the presumption of innocence and that the court vacated her conviction.”                     
   
• Chase Strangio, a staff attorney with the ACLU’s LGBT & HIV Project, who has been working with Monica for the past year and a half, said: “Like so many trans women of color, Monica Jones was profiled and targeted by police for walking down the street. Today’s reversal of her conviction is an important validation of Monica’s brave fight to be seen and treated like a human being.”
   
• Dan Pochoda, senior counsel at the ACLU of Arizona, who has also been working on Monica’s case, noted: “Monica Jones was targeted by law enforcement after her public opposition to the coercive treatment of sex workers by Project ROSE. The demise of this Project is based on the inaccurate claim that most adult sex workers are "trafficked" is further vindication of Monica.”

The order can be found here: https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/assets/monica_jones_conviction_reversed.pdf. Happy to connect you to Monica Jones and her legal team for further discussion. You can reach me at 212-519-7894.

Best,
Crystal Cooper
Media Strategist
American Civil Liberties Union
125 Broad St., New York, NY 10004
■ 212.519.7894 ■ ccooper@aclu.org

DENYING deliberate indifference: DOC/ACLU settlement reached, RYAN denies wrongdoing...

 EDITED OCT 14, 2014 3:48pm

This first press release is just in from the ACLU of Arizona. I think the DOC is getting off easy without having a public trial, but it saves money and time to do this instead. They were definitely going to lose...

The second press release is from the head of the AZ DOC, Charles Ryan, the guy who was named in the suit. Sounds like he won the lawsuit or something. These are vastly different accounts of the settlement. My bet is that the AZ DOC put the most spin on their version, but it concerns me that they say the following:


" “This is positive news,” said ADC Director Charles Ryan.  “On the eve of trial, the plaintiffs in this case have essentially agreed that the department’s current policies and practices, along with recent enhancements to programming opportunities, adequately addresses the plaintiffs’ concerns relating to constitutional healthcare and conditions of confinement for maximum custody and mentally ill inmates. "

AND:
 
" ADC will monitor its own compliance, thus avoiding costly court oversight, and the Plaintiffs’ attorneys, through record review and on-site tours will confirm compliance, as well."

Say what??? No way!!!

I'm going to have to read the settlement docs myself and get back to you all with another analysis..

----------

Arizona Agrees to Major Improvements in Prison Health Care, Crucial Limits on Solitary Confinement in Landmark Settlement

For Immediate Release
October 14, 2014

CONTACT:

Alexandra Ringe, American Civil Liberties Union, media@aclu.org, 212-549-2666
Steve Kilar, ACLU of Arizona, skilar@acluaz.org, 602-773-6007
Don Specter and Corene Kendrick, Prison Law Office, dspecter@prisonlaw.com and ckendrick@prisonlaw.com, 510-280-2621

PHOENIX – The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Arizona, the Prison Law Office, and co-counsel today filed a settlement agreement in their class-action suit on behalf of more than 33,000 prisoners in Arizona’s state prisons. Under the settlement, the Arizona Department of Corrections must fix a broken health care system plagued by long-term and systemic problems that caused numerous deaths and preventable injuries. The settlement will also allow prisoners in solitary confinement who have serious mental illnesses to have more mental health treatment and time outside their cells, and will make other critical reforms in prison conditions.

“The Arizona Department of Corrections worked with us on a settlement that shows a commitment to protecting prisoners’ physical and mental health,” said David Fathi, the Director of the ACLU’s National Prison Project. “We hope other states will now find ways to provide adequate medical, mental health, and dental care to their prisoners.”

“The Arizona Department of Corrections has agreed to changes that will save lives,” said Don Specter, Director of the Prison Law Office. “This settlement will bring more humane treatment for prisoners with serious health care needs, and the potential for their conditions to improve rather than worsen.”

The settlement in Parsons v. Ryan requires the Arizona Department of Corrections (ADC) to meet more than 100 health care performance measures, covering issues such as monitoring of prisoners with diabetes, hypertension, and other chronic conditions; care for pregnant prisoners; and dental care.

The settlement also requires ADC to overhaul the rules for prisoners with serious mental illnesses in solitary confinement. Instead of spending all but six hours a week in their cells, such prisoners will now have a minimum of 19 hours a week outside the cell, and this time must include mental health treatment and other programming. ADC must also restrict guards’ use of pepper spray on these prisoners, using it only as a last resort when necessary to prevent serious injury or escape.

The settlement provides for ongoing monitoring and oversight by the prisoners’ lawyers to make sure the state is complying with its terms.

The groups filed the federal lawsuit in 2012, challenging years of inattention to the health needs of state prisoners and improper and excessive use of solitary confinement, resulting in serious harm and unnecessary deaths. Judge Neil V. Wake of the U.S. District Court in Phoenix certified the case as a class action in March 2013, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed that ruling in June 2014. Last month, the groups filed reports by nationally recognized experts in corrections and in medical, mental health, and dental care, showing system-wide problems with the prisons’ health care and excessive use of solitary confinement.

In addition to the ACLU and the Prison Law Office, other attorneys on the case are Perkins Coie, Jones Day, and the Arizona Center for Disability Law, which is also a plaintiff in the case.

Click here for a copy of the SETTLEMENT stipulation filed today with the court. 

Click here for a copy of the EXHIBITS to the stipulation.

For more information about Parsons v. Ryan:

aclu.org/prisoners-rights/parsons-v-ryan

For information about the ACLU’s National Prison Project:
https://www.aclu.org/prisoners-rights

For information about the Prison Law Office:
www.prisonlaw.com

For information about the Arizona Center for Disability Law:
http://www.acdl.com/

---now for the official state version----

ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS

1601 W. JEFFERSON

PHOENIX, ARIZONA 85007

(602) 542-3133

www.azcorrections.gov    

JANICE K. BREWER                                                  CHARLES L. RYAN GOVERNOR                                                                            DIRECTOR

For more information contact: Doug Nick dnick@azcorrections.gov Bill Lamoreaux blamorea@azcorrections.gov

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Parties reach settlement agreement

and seek to vacate Parsons v. Ryan trial

PHOENIX (Tuesday, October 14, 2014) – The Arizona Department of Corrections (ADC) has reached a settlement agreement in collaboration with the ACLU, Prison Law Office and ACDL prior to the pending trial.

The parties have agreed to approximately 100 performance measures applicable to medical, mental health, dental and conditions of confinement.

“This is positive news,” said ADC Director Charles Ryan.  “On the eve of trial, the plaintiffs in this case have essentially agreed that the department’s current policies and practices, along with recent enhancements to programming opportunities, adequately addresses the plaintiffs’ concerns relating to constitutional healthcare and conditions of confinement for maximum custody and mentally ill inmates.

“In regards to those issues, the settlement notwithstanding, it’s unfortunate that the plaintiffs continue to use rhetoric such as ‘solitary confinement’ to describe housing for some inmates.  No such confinement exists in our institutions.  The Department of Corrections has always followed nationally-accredited standards for housing single-cell inmates that include requirements for natural daylight and contact with others, and out-of-cell time.

“Additionally, it should be noted that Arizona’s inmate mortality rates, including incidents of suicide, are within the national average for corrections departments.  In 2012, the most recent year for which statistics are available, Arizona reported 215 deaths per 100,000 inmates, compared to the national average of 254 per 100,000.  Additionally, Arizona averaged 17 inmate suicides per 100,000, which is in line with the national average of 16 per 100,000.

“By avoiding a costly trial, the Department saves significant resources that can be further directed towards continuing to provide constitutional healthcare and structured programming to support successful community reintegration.  This is especially relevant in light of the fact that despite the state of California spending nearly $18,000 per inmate for health care costs due to two decades of litigation by the same plaintiffs in the Parsons case, California is still under court supervision and the inmate mortality rate there exceeds that of Arizona. 

By contrast, Arizona spends nearly $3,800 per inmate in health care costs.

ADC will monitor its own compliance, thus avoiding costly court oversight, and the Plaintiffs’ attorneys, through record review and on-site tours will confirm compliance, as well. ADC, through its contracted vendor, must meet specific compliance thresholds at its facilities. Within two years, monitoring of performance measures automatically terminates when those performance measures meet agreed-upon thresholds.  ADC can petition the court to terminate the entire settlement agreement after four years.

Parsons v Ryan: Experts report on Arizona's Other Death Row...

Per the ACLU of Arizona: "Every week, on average, a patient who has been neglected or mistreated dies in the Arizona prison system..."

Thank you, ACLU and Prison Law Office, as well as the folks at Perkins Coie and Jones Day, and the AZ Center for Disability Law for fighting Parsons v Ryan.  Thanks as well to Wendy Halloran at KPNX/Channel 12 News, and Bob Ortega at the Arizona Republic for exposing the AZ DOC's and their medical care providers' failings.

 

I urge all of you who are helping prisoners fight Corizon now for their medical care to read these reports (links are here). There may be something in there your loved ones can use for their own cases - after all, its the pattern of deliberate indifference that makes  the AZ DOC director personally responsible for their suffering, even if he didn't know about them individually or their conditions. 

 the sad story of ferdinand dix...

  Along those lines, prisoners really need to follow the AZ DOC's medical grievance policy (DO 802) to the letter if they are going to get any help, so download and study that policy first, yourselves, and send them a copy. Send them this one as well, DO 1101 on accessing health care services. Then send them this thing, the Jailhouse Lawyers Handbook from the National Lawyers' Guild. It'll tell them why they need to file grievances and what to do when they don't get the answers they need.

If you need more info on strategies for fighting DOC and Corizon, check out this newsletter and these blog posts:

APW Summer 2014 Newsletter

Corizon's deliberate indifference: fighting back. (Thursday, May 30, 2013)

Corizon and the AZ DOC: Prisoners & Families, Know Your Rights. (Tuesday, March 5, 2013)

 a loving sister remembering Nelson Douglas Johnson, one of many AZ DOC prisoners

 who committed suicide in solitary confinement under Jan Brewer's administration...

Here's also a list of civil suit attorneys that I know have sued the AZ DOC before, as well as a few other resources. Now, that's not an endorsement of anyone in particular - check them out yourselves. Just make sure you get someone who understands prison law - it's really not like any other civil litigation.

The class action suit is scheduled to go to trial on October 21, 2014 in US District Court in Phoenix, so plan to be with us that week, at least!!!

---------from the ACLU of Arizona---------

Arizona Prisons’ Widespread Failings Detailed 

in Newly Released Reports

 Healthcare in Arizona Department of Corrections Facilities 

Does Not Meet Minimum Standards, Experts Find 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sept. 9, 2014 

CONTACT: Steve Kilar, ACLU of Arizona, 602-773-6007, skilar@acluaz.org

PHOENIX – Nearly two dozen expert reports that detail widespread problems with the Arizona Department of Corrections’ healthcare system, as well as its use of solitary confinement, were made public late Monday. 

“I observed locked, dark and empty rooms that I was told were exam rooms, but lacked basic medical equipment,” wrote Dr. Robert Cohen, an expert in correctional medicine, in one of his reports (11/8/13 report, page 5). “Medical equipment was broken, covered in dust, and in some cases based on logs attached to them, had not been repaired or checked in more than a decade.” 

Dr. Cohen found that almost half of people who died “natural deaths” while in ADC’s care over a six-month period received “grossly deficient” medical care (2/24/14 report, pages 1-2). Every week, on average, a patient who has been neglected or mistreated dies in the Arizona prison system, according to these expert reports. 

“In some of these cases, the poor care clearly caused or hastened their death,” Dr. Cohen wrote (2/24/14 report, page 1-2). “It is alarming that almost half of the natural deaths occurring during the brief half year period under review would reveal such significant problems with delivery of basic medical services.” 

Dr. Cohen uncovered shocking delays in treatment including the case of a 38-year-old prisoner whose death from cancer was avoidable according to ADC’s own documents (2/24/14 report, pages 19-25). Another prisoner died of untreated lung cancer after being accused by nurses of lying about his medical condition; they said in his medical records that he was “playing games” and “seeking attention” (2/24/14 report, pages 25-32). A 24-year-old man died of AIDS-related pneumonia after his AIDS went undiagnosed and untreated for a year, despite his pleas for HIV tests and treatment, Dr. Cohen found (2/24/14 report, page 52). 

These are not isolated cases. Dr. Cohen’s findings, and the findings of the plaintiffs’ other experts, point to systemic deficiencies in ADC’s healthcare. 

“[T]here were multiple cases in which the lapses were so shocking and dangerous that I felt ethically obligated as a medical professional to bring them to the immediate attention of the ADC and Corizon staff,” Dr. Cohen said (11/8/13 report, page 4). Corizon is the company contracted by the state to provide healthcare to prisoners. 

The other experts made equally damning discoveries. The 23 expert reports, which were previously confidential, were made public yesterday pursuant to a court order in anticipation of an October trial relating to ADC’s failure to provide more than 33,000 prisoners in 10 prisons healthcare and conditions of confinement that meet constitutional standards. 

“[T]he chronic shortage of mental health staff, delays in providing or outright failure to provide mental health treatment, the gross inadequacies in the provision of psychiatric medications, and the other deficiencies identified in this report are statewide systemic problems, and prisoners who need mental health care have already experienced, and will experience, a serious risk of injury to their health if these problems are not addressed,” wrote Dr. Pablo Stewart, another expert hired by plaintiffs’ counsel to tour ADC’s prisons and review prisoners’ medical records, in one of his reports (11/8/13 report, page 10). 

Dr. Stewart, a psychiatry professor with expertise in prison mental health care, uncovered numerous preventable suicides by prisoners, lengthy and serious delays in care, insufficient and unlicensed staff and inadequate medication protocols. One prisoner hanged himself after ADC neglected to give him his prescribed mood stabilizing drugs for more than three weeks, Dr. Stewart found (11/8/13 report, pages 21-23). 

The reports also detail significant, dangerous problems with ADC’s use of solitary confinement. Some people, for instance, are put in isolation simply because other beds are full (Vail 11/8/13 report, page 9). Mentally ill prisoners are often isolated because ADC does not have treatment alternatives, according to one expert (Vail 11/8/13 report, page 13). 

“[T]he ADC health care delivery system is fundamentally broken and is among the worst prison health care systems I have encountered,” Dr. Cohen wrote (11/8/13 report, page 3). “[U]nless ADC dramatically reverses its course, it will continue to operate in a way that harms patients by denying them necessary care for serious medical conditions.” 

Plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit, Parsons v. Ryan, are represented by the American Civil Liberties Union’s National Prison Project, the ACLU of Arizona, the Prison Law Office, Jones Day, Perkins Coie LLP and the Arizona Center for Disability Law. 

A trial is scheduled to begin Oct. 21. More expert reports will be made public prior to the trial. 

The complete reports now available can be found here. Reporters can email the ACLU of Arizona to request report summaries.

Parsons v Ryan: AZ AG/DOC seeks settlement talks, as CORIZON treats cancer with antacids.

Condolences to the family of Glen Huggins and every other AZ DOC prisoner who has died from the violence of deliberate indifference under this governorship. May we soon see an end to the drug war, and the beginning of the end to our legislature giving blessings to those who would maximize profit by stealing public resources from the sick and dying. The prisoners, the ACLU-AZ and the Prison Law Office, among others, are doing their part to fight the parasites our state does business with, having filed Parsons v Ryan (which goes to trial in October, unless it's settled first). Please do your part as well, and honor Glen's dying wish that no more prisoners have to suffer as he did: hold all these people accountable. Demand that your legislators launch an investigation into the DOC's ineffective leadership, high number of unnecessary prisoner deaths, and poor oversight of contract agencies. You can find them here:

http://www.azleg.gov/alisStaticPages/HowToContactMember.asp

Arizona State Legislature
Capitol Complex
1700 West Washington
Phoenix, AZ 85007-2890

Also call on Governor Brewer's office to sack AZ Department of Corrections' Director Charles Ryan for this mess, and insist that a new director improve health care as a top priority - Ryan's DOC has only sought to grow prisons and the profits of folks like Corizon. 

Her contact info is here:

http://www.azgovernor.gov/Contact.asp

The Honorable Janice K. Brewer
Arizona Governor
Executive Tower
1700 West Washington Street
Phoenix, AZ 85007
(602) 542-4331

 

Thank you to CH 12/KPNX and Wendy Halloran, from the prisoners and the family members I've spoken to about Corizon and the AZ DOC's complicity in depriving state prisoners of the most basic things they need to survive - which begins with recognizing their humanity, as well as our own.

If you are the loved one of a prisoner of the AZ DOC who is suffering without care, contact Arizona Prison Watch. I will provide what resources I can to help - including a list of attorneys who have sued the state prison system and don't give me kickbacks for referrals (likewise, if you know of any good lawyers who may help other families, please let me know). I can be reached at:arizonaprisonwatch@gmail.com or 480-580-6807

Here are a couple of other blog posts that give concrete info about fighting the AZ DOC on medical issues.

http://azprisonsurvivors.blogspot.com/2013/03/corizon-and-az-doc-prisoners-families.html

http://www.arizonaprisonwatch.org/2013/05/corizons-deliberate-indifference.html

Please also contact KPNX/AZ Republic's parent company, to tell them we need more stories like the one below, because prisoners' lives matter. Cut and paste this email to reach them at connect@ad.gannett.com

 

-------------from CH12/KPNX-----------

Costs up, no improvement in prison healthcare quality

Wendy Halloran, 12 News | azcentral.com 

 10:50 p.m. MST August 1, 2014

First they refused to admit there's a dire problem. Now, after a 12 News investigation, the Arizona Department of Corrections is offering to settle up with inmates in a class-action lawsuit filed in 2012.

We first brought you the story of inmates not getting proper healthcare, even though taxpayers are footing the bill, in May. Our reporting revealed there were at least 16,000 delays in medical care to Arizona inmates in 2013.

So far, the only action taken has been imposing fines on Corizon, the company contracted to provide healthcare for inmates in the state.

HEALTHCARE RATE INCREASE 

The state has paid Corizon $130 million a year to provide healthcare for inmates. Arizona taxpayers have paid, on average, $348,000 per day.

In July, a rate increase went into effect, from $10.10 per inmate per day to $10.42, due to changes made by ADC. According to Corizon's contract, the increase is to pay for 34 more staff positions to hand out medications. This followed an ADC policy change regarding what medications inmates were allowed to self-administer after multiple suicides and overdoses.

So costs have gone up, but newly released records obtained by 12 News show the problems inside the state's prisons are getting worse.

ADC-employed monitors routinely document Corizon's performance in monthly reports known as MGARs. In our review of the new batch of reports covering November of last year through April, we found numerous cases of delay, lack of treatment, noncompliance with the terms of the contract, ADC monitors noting staff shortages, and lack of medication and psychiatric care for mentally ill prisoners.


THE STORY OF INMATE GLEN HUGGINS

On December 15, 2013, Glen Huggins had 72 hours left to live.

Huggins was serving a 12-year prison sentence on drug convictions at the state prison in Tucson. He had already served eight years when he suddenly became gravely ill.

In August of 2013 Huggins complained to prison staff in Tucson about abdominal pain. He filled out what is known as an HNR, a Health Needs Requests inmates are required to fill out to get medical care. He complained he had not been able to swallow his food and keep it down since June, and had been losing weight.

More than a week later, a nurse saw Huggins. His symptoms were documented but his case was deemed "not urgent."

At the end of August, a nurse practitioner saw Huggins and, thinking the pain was due to Hepatitis C and acid reflux, gave him an antacid.

"That wasn't doing anything," Huggins' son, Cody, told us. "Meanwhile he's still losing weight, he can't swallow."

Huggins' family provided 12 News his medical records, which show he had a family history of cancer.

We asked Dr. Palav Babaria, a primary-care physician in Oakland, California to review the documents and give her opinion on whether the family's allegations of delays in care were accurate.

Dr. Babaria has done work for the Prison Law Office, one of the plaintiffs in the class-action lawsuit against the Department of Corrections.

"For someone like Mr. Huggins, who had the medical history that he had, any complaints of not being able to swallow accompanied by profound weight loss he was talking about, I think any competent physician would have worried about cancer until proven otherwise," said Dr. Babaria.

On September 17, Huggins wrote in an HNR the antacids he was taking weren't working and his condition was getting worse.

In an October request, Huggins wrote a nurse had seen him eight times and an abdominal X-ray was normal, but still no doctor was assigned to examine him.

He filed more HNRs complaining of continued difficulty swallowing food and keeping food down. He wrote that the antacids were not helping with his pain.

Dr. Babaria says an abdominal X-ray was not an appropriate test.

"The two easiest ways of doing that are getting X-rays called a barium swallow, and see if liquid that shows up on the X-ray is passing or not, or just doing an endoscopy, going down with a camera to get a really good look and do biopsies," she said.

Dr. Babaria says, in Huggins' case, it seems that none of that was done when he first complained of the symptoms. Instead he was treated as if he only had acid reflux.

According to records obtained by 12 News, Huggins was just one of several inmates at the Tucson prison who suffered from a lack of medical care.

The Department of Corrections' own monitors documented long delays for inmates to be seen by outside specialists. Only nine patients out of 33 received urgent consultations in a timely manner. The requirement is that urgent consultations are done within 30 days, which goal Corizon met only 27% of the time.

A SON'S STRUGGLE 

Reading his father's HNRs was upsetting for Cody Huggins.

"You see a man that is just pleading for help and asking for help practically begging for help there at the end," he said.

According to Huggins' prison records, on October 23, 2013 a possible diagnosis of cancer is noted after a mass extending from Huggins' chest to his navel was discovered. This was made by the Corizon nurse practitioner.

Only then did Corizon approve sending Huggins to an outside hospital. The first time Huggins was seen by a doctor was when he arrived in the emergency room. According to Huggins' medical records, within an hour, he was diagnosed with Stage 4 esophageal cancer.

The cancer spread from his esophagus to other parts of his body. The doctors could not put a stint in to open up his esophagus because of the size of the tumor. Instead, they inserted a feeding tube in his stomach so he could get some nourishment.

His medical records show he lost almost 40 pounds in the months he kept requesting treatment and reporting problems.

On December 5, 2013 the Arizona Board of Executive Clemency recommended his sentence be commuted due to "imminent danger of death."

Gov. Jan Brewer signed a clemency order on December 11. Huggins was medically paroled the next day. His family took him home to die.

Huggins died on December 18, less than a week after his release.

Cody Huggins called it inhumane and hopes this doesn't happen to any other inmates or their families.

Dr. Babaria says the degree of suffering was preventable.

Now, Huggins' family plans to file suit against Corizon, accusing the healthcare provider of denying Huggins adequate and competent care.

Corizon denies any wrongdoing in Huggins' death. The company issued this statement:

"State and federal privacy laws forbid disclosure by Corizon of any identifiable patient medical information, let alone argument of factual claims regarding patient care in the news media. We can state that the allegations made by Ms. Halloran related to the patient's access to nursing staff and medical providers are not supported by the medical record. The inmate patient received timely, appropriate and professional care. The onset and advance of the patient's condition were unfortunately rapid and aggressive, just as they are often so among other similarly stricken patients. Allegations to the contrary are misleading and untruthful."

Cody Huggins struggles with his father's death. He thought his dad would be released from prison for the last time and they could rebuild their relationship and start a new one with Cody's young daughter.

Over the last two quarters, Corizon has been sanctioned by the state for a total of $71,000 based on its performance. An ADC spokesman emailed us this statement:

"The MGAR reports are valuable tools to document compliance with identified performance measures. Corrective action plans are implemented to hold Corizon accountable for those measures. ADC has imposed financial sanctions on Corizon as part of the company's contract with the state.

"As with any such contract, Corizon's agreement is subject to the state Procurement Code as well as adherence to the Department of Corrections Department Order 302, Contracts and Procurement, to ensure transparent, fair and equitable practices and has the approval of the Attorney General's Office and State Procurement Officer."

Meanwhile, the class-action lawsuit filed by the ACLU of Arizona, ACLU National Prison Project, and the Prison Law Office is scheduled to go to trial this October in Phoenix. It accuses the Department of Corrections of providing inadequate medical care, mental healthcare and dental care that has led to deaths.
Defending against the suit is private law firm Struck, Wieneke & Love PLC of Chandler. So far, billing records reveal taxpayers have paid this firm approximately $3.4 million to defend the Arizona Department of Corrections against the lawsuit.

Meanwhile, the Prison Law Office has confirmed via email that settlement talks are underway to avoid a trial, issuing the following statement:

"The AG's office filed a request seeking a settlement conference, and after preliminary discussions with the AG's office we agreed to that request. A court-supervised settlement conference is scheduled for August 5."

AUG 5: Conversation with Monica Jones and Laverne Cox: The Criminalization of Trans Women of Color and Visions for Justice

from SWOP-Phoenix and the ACLU of Arizona, 7:30 on August 5 at the Herberger!

Conversation with Monica Jones and Laverne Cox: 

The Criminalization of Trans Women of Color and Visions for Justice

Herberger Theater Center- Stage West

Tuesday, August 5, 2014, 7:30PM

Doors open at 7PM for pre-registered seating and 7:15PM for general seating

Alongside Arizona’s already brutal racial profiling laws, severe anti-prostitution statutes enable police to profile and harass people of color, people in poverty, and LGBTQ people. Trans women of color disproportionately face the discriminatory and detrimental effects of these laws.

Join us for a discussion with Emmy-nominated actress Laverne Cox and Phoenix activist Monica Jones about the fight for fairness and justice for trans people.

Jones, a social work graduate student at ASU and advocate for sex worker rights, is currently fighting a conviction for “manifesting prostitution”-- a crime in Phoenix that some have taken to calling “walking while trans.” Cox is the star of the critically acclaimed Netflix series “Orange Is the New Black” and an outspoken advocate for the LGBTQ community.

This event is free and open to the public. Pre-registration is strongly encouraged. To register for this event, visit: www.acluaz.org/standwithmonica

RSVP on Facebook here

 

Sponsored by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Arizona and Phoenix Sex Workers Outreach Project (SWOP) with generous support from the Herberger Theater Center

ACLU-AZ on Parsons v Ryan: 9th Circuit affirms AZ DOC prisoner class action may proceed.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Thursday, June 5, 2014

CONTACT:
Alexandra Ringe, ACLU National, 212-549-2666, media@aclu.org
Steve Kilar, ACLU of Arizona, 602-492-8540, skilar@acluaz.org
Don Specter, Prison Law Office, 510-280-2621, dspecter@prisonlaw.com

 

33,000 Arizona Prisoners Now Can Sue State Over Health Care, Solitary Confinement

 

SAN FRANCISCO – Today the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit unanimously ruled that the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), ACLU of Arizona and the Prison Law Office can move forward with a lawsuit against the state of Arizona on behalf of all 33,000 prisoners in the state’s 10 prisons and all future prisoners. The ruling is critical to obtaining necessary systemic changes to conditions of confinement in the Arizona Department of Correction (ADC), and is a key victory for civil rights plaintiffs throughout the country.

"The State of Arizona has long ignored the basic needs of people confined in its prisons, including the constitutional mandate to provide adequate health care. Prisoners have suffered unnecessarily and even died while waiting for basic care," said David Fathi, Director of the National Prison Project at the ACLU, who argued the case for the prisoners in the Court of Appeals. "This ruling brings us closer to requiring the executive and legislative branches to end their neglect and indifference once and for all."

The groups filed the federal lawsuit in 2012, challenging years of inattention to the health needs of state prisoners and improper and excessive use of solitary confinement, resulting in serious harms and unnecessary deaths. Judge Neil V. Wake of the U.S. District Court in Phoenix certified the case as a class action in March 2013; today’s decision affirms that ruling.

The Court of Appeals listed failing to hire enough medical staff, failing to fill prescriptions, denying inmates access to medical specialists, adopting a de facto “extraction only” policy for dental issues, and depriving suicidal and mentally ill inmates access to basic mental health care.

The Court allowed the ACLU and the Prison Law Office to represent the prison population in Arizona as a class because all the prisoners shared a common interest in not being subjected to a "substantial risk of serious harm resulting from exposure to the [ADC’s] policies and practices governing health care." "The Court rejected the state’s arguments that the prisoners don’t have enough in common to warrant class action status, adding that the state had a "fundamental misunderstanding" of the law:

“[G]iven that every inmate in ADC custody is likely to require medical, mental health, and dental care, each of the named plaintiffs is similarly positioned to all other ADC inmates with respect to a substantial risk of serious harm resulting from exposure to the defendants’ policies and practices governing health care.”

In addition to seeking adequate medical, mental health, and dental care for Arizona’s prisoners, the lawsuit challenges the state prisons’ use of solitary confinement.

"Among our plaintiffs are the seriously mentally ill and other prisoners whose mental health has markedly deteriorated in solitary confinement – weeks, months, sometimes years of extreme isolation and sensory deprivation," said Don Specter, Director of the Prison Law Office. "Sometimes the damage is permanent. Arizona must stop this cruel and unusual punishment."

The case, Parsons v. Ryan, is scheduled to go to trial in October 2014.

In addition to the ACLU and the Prison Law Office, other attorneys on the case are Perkins Coie LLP, Jones Day, and the Arizona Center for Disability Law.

Click here to read the Ninth Circuit opinion.

Click here to learn more about Parsons v. Ryan.

Graves v Arpaio: MCSO jail health and mental health still under fire.

Thanks for this, Stephen. The next big wrongful death lawsuit to hit Joe Arpaio will be that of the unborn child spontaneously aborted at Christmastime after her mother got food poisoning and became septic in Estrella Jail...

---------------------------------

Joe Arpaio's Jails Potentially Hazardous to Your Health, whether You're in Jail or Not

By Stephen Lemons
Published Tue., Mar. 4 2014 at 8:02 AM

According to one nationally recognized expert in correctional medicine, medical care in Sheriff Joe Arpaio's vast incarceration complex is not just potentially hazardous to the health of pretrial detainees and jail staff, but to that of the general public.

Dr. Robert Cohen, a member of New York City's Board of Corrections and the Board of the National Commission on Health Care, is expected to testify in federal court today on behalf of the plaintiffs in Graves v. Arpaio, a jails-conditions lawsuit in federal court that stretches back decades, long before Arpaio came to power.

The basis for Cohen's testimony during a hearing at the Sandra Day O'Connor U.S. Courthouse in downtown Phoenix is to be his November 2013 report on the care provided by the county's Correctional Health Services, which is scarier than some horror flick by M. Night Shyamalan.

Not only do county inmates "not receive adequate care," according to Cohen, deficiencies in the jails' medical system "continue to place patients at a major risk of serious harm -- which includes pain, deterioration of health, unnecessary morbidity and death."

Read Dr. Robert Cohen's recent report on medical care in Joe's jails.

Also, inadequate screening for tuberculosis unnecessarily exposes inmates, staff, and those who come in contact with them -- potentially you and me -- to infection.

MCCHS is a separate entity from the MCSO, yet the two county departments obviously work hand-in-hand.

Cohen finds the problems with health care in our jails "endemic to the entire system," and faults both the MCSO and the MCCHS for knowing of these inadequacies "for years," while not taking adequate steps to correct them.

Inmates are not properly examined for various medical conditions, do not have proper access to medication and doctors for emergency and chronic conditions, and are not properly treated for alcohol and drug withdrawal, Cohen finds.

For a public that often regards Joe's jails as hellholes for the deserving, the situation regarding tuberculosis in Arpaio's gulags should be alarming.

Cohen knocks the jails' "poorly designed screening and treatment program" for the disease as a direct threat to jail staff and other prisoners.

"By design," Cohen writes, "tuberculosis screening...does not begin until the initial health assessment is performed. This rarely occurs before 12-14 days after admission, often takes longer, and sometimes does not occur at all."

This "failure of the tuberculosis control program" affects "everyone in the jail and everyone who has contact with the men and women who live and work in the jail," observes Cohen.

Cohen cites specific examples of patients who were not properly screened and treated for TB.

For example, "patient 49," received his screening 17 days after being booked into jail. He tested "very positive," and yet, he did not receive a follow-up chest x-ray to determine if he actually had the disease until four months later.

The x-ray showed "a right lower lobe pneumonia, consistent with active tuberculosis," according to Cohen.
"If this was tuberculosis," Cohen notes, "a person with active tuberculosis would have been living, and coughing, in the MCJ for over four months without treatment.

"Tuberculosis is spread through droplets injected into the air by coughing. Tuberculosis screening is a critical component of medical care in a large urban jail where tuberculosis is known to be present."

In addition to TB, there are horror stories aplenty regarding poor or nonexistent care: untreated septic infections, diabetics, heart patients denied proper meds, inmates given ibuprofen for terrible pain, mentally ill people allowed to become increasingly psychotic, and prisoners in alcohol withdrawal who are inadequately treated, in one case, leading to death.

Even if you are inured to the suffering of others, such conditions have been found in the past to violate the U.S. Constitution. They often become the basis of lawsuits that have cost the county scores of millions of dollars over the years.

One of the more recent lawsuits involved the death of Deborah Braillard, the diabetic mom denied her medication by MCSO gendarmes until she was so sick, she was vomiting and defecating on herself, ultimately falling into a diabetic coma from which she did not emerge.

In 2012, her family's claim ended in a $3.25 million settlement with the county.

Dan Pochoda, legal director of the ACLU of Arizona, which is representing the plaintiffs, explained that Graves v. Arpaio began in 1977 as the lawsuit Hart v. Hill (later Hart v. Arpaio), and it involved general jail conditions, including medical and mental health care.

In 2008, U.S. Circuit Judge Neil Wake ruled conditions in Arpaio's jails unconstitutional for pretrial inmates, ordering a series of remedies, which Arpaio appealed to the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Joe lost in 2010, with the Ninth U.S. Circuit's ordering Arpaio and the county to obey Wake's 2008 ruling.

Pochoda says the MCSO improved in the non-medical areas of the decree, and the court lifted those parts.
Now the county is attempting to get out from under the court's 2008 order, regarding medical/mental health care.

The court has experts assigned to monitor the progress of medical care. During the ongoing hearings, both sides in the lawsuit are offering their own experts' assessments of the situation in the jails.

"There's other experts being put on the stand by each party," Pochoda said. "With one side, ours, saying...there's inadequate care, systemically inadequate, and the other side saying everything is rosy."

Only thing rosy about the health care in Arpaio's jails is the color of the phlegm from TB-infected inmates.

Until that part of the equation is fixed, none of us is safe. Including those lucky enough to avoid doing time in Joe's dungeons.

Got a tip for The Bastard? Send it to: Stephen Lemons.
Follow Valley Fever on Twitter at @ValleyFeverPHX.
Follow Stephen Lemons on Twitter at @StephenLemons.

Legislative courage and felon disenfranchisement: Quezada introduces HB 2132.

Another brave legislator steps up to confront the disenfranchisemant of too many citizens, whose input into the political process might help mitigate some of the brutality in our criminal justice system. This bill in particular would deal with the disparities between the kind of "criminal" who can afford to pay off fines and restitution quickly, and those who can't - one's poverty alone isn't supposed to prevent participation in a democracy, after all. 

Unfortunately, because the heteropatriarchal white supremacy in this state would be threatened by the participation of more poor people in the electoral process, I don't expect this bill to survive any committees this year - this legislature is all about depriving people of their right to vote. But good for Quezada for putting it out there.

--------------------------

Bill would make it easier for felons to get back right to vote

 

Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2014
By Caitlin Cruz
Cronkite News

About HB 2132:

• Author: Rep. Martín J. Quezada
• Key Provision: To automatically restore voting rights to felons by making requirements less stringent.
• For two or more felony convictions: Automatic restoration after completing probation or receiving an absolute discharge.
• For first-time felons: Automatic restoration after completing a term of probation or receives an absolute discharge.

PHOENIX – Saying that voting can help former felons reintegrate into everyday life, a state lawmaker wants to make it easier for them to get back that right.

“I think that people that have served their time and paid their debt to society that it’s important for them to get their most fundamental right – constitutional right – the right to vote, to get it back,” said Rep. Martín J. Quezada, D-Phoenix.

He authored HB 2132, which would restore the right to vote to a person who has been convicted of two or more felonies after completing probation or receiving an absolute discharge from the Arizona Department of Corrections. The latter requires completing a prison term and parole and paying restitution in full.

At present, members of that group must apply to vote again, a process that varies by county.

“The right to vote being so fundamental … it seems automatic restoration of that right in particular is critical to making us a better-functioning society,” Quezada said.

First-time felons currently get back the right to vote automatically after completing probation or receiving an absolute discharge and paying fines and restitution. The bill would allow restoration before full payment of fines and restitution.

“A lot of time, the payment of fines is also prohibitive, especially with people who are of limited resources, which they’re going to be after being released from prison,” Quezada said.

Donna Leone Hamm, a retired lower court judge and founder of the nonprofit organization Middle Ground Prison Reform, also sees voting as a bridge for felons to rejoin society.

“I can’t think of a better way for people to learn how to appropriately change the world and change what you don’t like than to vote and to know that your vote counts,” she said.

Hamm said she understands that voting may not be the top priority for a newly released prisoner.

“Still, being allowed to register to vote and to participate in democracy is a way of demonstrating to an inmate that you have paid your debt and we accept you back into the process,” she said.

Her husband, James J. Hamm, who served time in Arizona for a drug-related homicide, received his absolute discharge in 2001. He registered to vote the same day.

“For me, personally, participation is significant,” he said. “It just keeps putting little pillars in that bridge between the past and the future.”

But Roger Clegg, president and general counsel of the Falls Church, Va.-based Center for Equal Opportunity, a right-leaning think tank, said voting restrictions are put in place for a reason.

“We have a minimum objective standard of responsibility, trustworthiness and commitment to our laws before we trust people with a role in self-governance,” he said.

Clegg said any kind of voting restoration should be on a case-by-case basis that involves a formal and “more meaningful” process similar to naturalization.

“I think the way you welcome people back into society is not giving them their right vote automatically. It’s something earned,” he said.

Alessandra Soler, executive director of American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona, said felon disenfranchisement is the “antithesis to rehabilitation.”

“We need to change the law so (voting restoration) can be automatic so once people complete their probation, once they’re no longer in the custody of the Department of Corrections, their voting rights should be automatically restored,” she said.

Soler said voting restoration shouldn’t be contingent on the complete payment of fines and restitution.

“We’re not saying people shouldn’t pay their obligations. All we’re saying is it shouldn’t be tied to the restoration of their voting rights,” she said. “I think it’s important once people served their time it should be automatic.”

HB 2132 was assigned to the House Judiciary Committee but had yet to receive a hearing.

Quezada sponsored a similar bill last year. He noted that it doesn’t tackle the restoration of any other rights, such as owning firearms.

“I’ve moved forward with this bill and other bills dealing with past felons because I believe it’s important for us as a society that these people become successful in their lives post their criminal sentences,” he said.

“After they are released back into society, we need to do whatever we can to help them be successful.”