Appeals court blocks start of takeover of healthcare operations in Arizona prisons

PHOENIX -- A federal appeals court has put on hold a court-ordered takeover of healthcare operations in Arizona’s prisons that was scheduled to start Monday.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals issued an order late Friday blocking the start date as Arizona corrections officials are appealing the takeover, also known as a receivership.

The court said letting the takeover start risks irreparable harm to the state if it wins the appeal and that the case raises questions about a federal judge’s authority over state prisons.

The court, however, said a receiver — an outside corrections professional hired to run healthcare operations — can still start operational planning for the takeover. But Monday’s scheduled transfer of the healthcare system’s management has been called off.

“While the state continues to pull every lever to delay accountability, we remain focused on the underlying crisis and will continue fighting to ensure that people in prison are not needlessly suffering and dying because of the state’s failures,” said Corene Kendrick, an American Civil Liberties Union attorney representing prisoners in the case.

Over the past 14 years, Arizona has been dogged by complaints that its prison healthcare system was run shoddily and callously and that it repeatedly failed to improve a system found to have exposed prisoners to harm and preventable deaths.

Earlier this year, U.S. District Judge Roslyn Silver ordered the takeover after concluding the state hadn’t complied with court-ordered changes or the requirements of the U.S. Constitution after more than a decade of litigation. Silver found prisoners remained exposed to grave threats of harm and suffering because of systematic deficiencies in their healthcare.

Attorneys for the state said Silver adopted a drastic takeover remedy without first trying intermediate fixes to speed compliance and hadn’t given the corrections department enough time to make more progress.

In a statement, the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry said it remains committed to improving healthcare inside its prisons.