The American Civil Liberties Union, Democratic state lawmakers and local community organizations have all called for the removal of Arizona Department of Corrections Director Chuck Ryan following news reports of shocking conditions at multiple state prison complexes.
In April, an ABC15 investigation found that many cell doors inside the Lewis state prison in Buckeye did not have functioning locks, which resulted in assaults on inmates and corrections officers. ABC15 reported that at least two inmate deaths have occurred as a result of the broken doors.
At the same prison, video surveillance showed inmates lighting fires outside of their cells, while correctional officers watched and did not intervene, due to a fear of having to report the incident to the Arizona Department of Corrections.
At the state prison in Douglas, the Arizona Republic reported inmates being given bottled water after the facility experienced low water pressure over the weekend.
KJZZ reported pregnant women in Arizona prisons being subjected to “deficient and dangerous prenatal and postnatal care,” with some women giving birth alone in their cells or having miscarriages due to inadequate or nonexistent healthcare services.
In response to these concerning events, Governor Doug Ducey’s office has indicated to press that they plan to investigate the Arizona Department of Corrections, but over a month has passed since then and no investigation has commenced.
The Tucson-based American Friends Service Committee, a nonprofit that works to promote criminal justice reform among other causes, has requested a meeting with Gov. Ducey to “convey the urgent concerns of incarcerated people and their families about the failed leadership of ADC Director Ryan, and to offer a new perspective for the way forward.”
“If Gov. Ducey’s goal for ADC is to reduce recidivism and rehabilitate people, then he must acknowledge that Charles Ryan is unfit to lead the Department in that direction,” Caroline Isaacs, AFSC-AZ’s Program Director, said in a press release. “Ryan is one of the last vestiges of an outdated and ineffective culture of strict ‘custody-and-control’ prison management.”
This article appears in Jun 6-12, 2019.
Under pressure from their grant funding sources to produce “results,” AFSC utterly has failed in their annual attempts to overhaul the criminal sentencing code by sponsoring or writing bills that incorrectly calculate earning of release credits, violate fundamental due process by proposing that inmates on community supervision be locked up without benefit of a hearing or a lawyer, and other outrageous proposals that attempt to broadly alter the criminal code, without first obtaining support or sponsorship by legislative leadership and committee chairs — the ones who actually run the system. Now, turning attention to prison operations, they want to blame low water pressure delivery in decades-old prisons on Charles Ryan? Corizon healthcare has been derelict in its duty to provide the mandated health care, including to pregnant female prisoners, that they were contracted to provide. Ultimately, the Director is responsible for the welfare and safety of all inmates, but Charles Ryan has taken the step of firing Corizon and hiring a new healthcare provider, effective July 1, 2019. Given the requirement to privatize prisoner healthcare imposed on him by the Legislature, he has no other options. The Department of Corrections is not perfect and never will be perfect. However, there are many occasions when under the current Director they have made positive strides and done the right thing to correct problems or injustices. Nothing should be done at the helm of the Department until a full investigation takes place and until the Governor has an opportunity to make informed decisions. Donna Leone Hamm, Director, Middle Ground Prison Reform
When the Governor appointes the two retired judge’s for yhe investigation inyo AODC they should be from some other state because if he used anybody from this state he is trying to hide something from the people of ARIZONA, if he uses anybody and I mean anybody from this State the people of ARIZONA will get the idea that he is trying to hiding something. The INVESTIGATORS should be 150% completely impartial to any kind of influence or pressure from anybody or any group of people in this State