Thanks to everyone who responded to our 11th hour action alert yesterday. Unfortunately, House Appropriations passed the bill 8-5 on a party-line vote. However, we are hearing that there are many Republicans who are still unhappy with the budget and are delaying its passage. This buys us a […]
The budget bill released yesterday would require the Department of Corrections to award a contract for 1,000 medium security prison beds to open on July 1, 2016, to be expanded to 2,000 beds (total) in subsequent years, with legislative approval. Corrections is already the third largest state agency […]
Senator Steve Pierce has introduced a bill that would require the Department of Corrections to release more people into the Transition Program, which provides 90 days of behavioral health programming and reentry assistance to non-violent offenders. The program has existed since 2003 and has a proven track record […]
Gov. Ducey’s budget for FY2016 proposes 3,000 new medium-security for-profit prison beds—beds we don’t need. The Governor’s budget estimates that these new beds will cost taxpayers over $100 million over the next three years. Corrections is already the third largest state agency budget, absorbing 11% of General Funds. […]
On Monday, December 1, AFSC Arizona released Still Buried Alive: Arizona Prisoner Testimonies on Isolation in Maximum-Security (2014), a report on solitary confinement in the Arizona Department of Corrections (ADC) that catalogues the testimonies of prisoners who have first-hand experience with isolation. One of the more prevalent themes raised […]
AFSC Arizona hosted a press conference on Monday December 1st, 2014 to announce the release of our newest report, Still Buried Alive: Arizona Prisoner Testimonies on Isolation in Maximum-Security (2014). This report is distinctive from other reports that we have released, in that it is predominantly filled with the words […]
Following the release of AFSC’s new report on prisoner isolation in maximum-security prisons, Still Buried Alive: Arizona Prisoner Testimonies on Isolation in Maximum-Security (2014), ADC representative Doug Nick attempted to dismiss the claim that Arizona prisons use solitary confinement calling it archaic. The Phoenix NPR affiliate KJZZ quoted Nick as […]