By AFSC-AZ Staff |

Coming on the heels of public outrage and demands for his resignation, most recently at last week’s Arizona State Prison Town Hall, organized by American Friends Service Committee-Arizona (AFSC-AZ), today Arizona Department of Corrections (ADC) Director Chuck Ryan announced his retirement. We are grateful for the hundreds of directly impacted voices who came forward over the past several months to call for accountability and systemic change.

AFSC-Arizona renews its call to Gov. Doug Ducey to implement the remaining nine recommendations that came out of the July 31^st town hall at First Church UCC in Phoenix. Chief among them is our request that the Governor convene an advisory committee made up of key stakeholders and experts, including those directly impacted by incarceration, to select a new Director.

It is disappointing if not unsurprising that none of the serious problems in the state’s prison system were acknowledged in Ryan’s retirement announcement or the Governor’s statement on the matter. However, this moment provides a crucial opportunity to correct the serious, systemic issues in ADC and heal the wounds in our community. We look to Gov. Ducey to ensure that the next Director is someone who will lead the Department with integrity and take us in a bold new direction in which Corrections actually lives up to its name.

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