Arizona Fined Over $1 Million For Poor Quality Of Health Care In Prisons

A federal judge who is presiding over a legal settlement on the quality of health care in Arizona prisons has imposed $1.1 million in contempt of court fines against the state for failing to improve inmate care, reported Fox 10 Phoenix.

This is the second time that the state has faced penalties like this for remaining noncompliant with elements of the six year deal.

U.S. District Judge Roslyn Silver imposed the fine on February 24th after many complaints were made about corrections officials, saying they were "dragging their feet in making all the changes to which they had agreed."

According to Fox 10, Silver found the state in civil contempt for not complying with 22 performance measures including ensuring newly prescribed medications be provided to inmates within two days at the Eyman prison and making medical providers tell inmates about the results of pathology reports and other diagnostic studies within five days of receiving such records at the Florence prison.

The judges handling the case have continuously expressed frustration over the state's noncompliance. A $1.4 million contempt fine was issued in 2018.

The state could also face fines of $100,000 for each performance measure that wasn't met in the last 10 months of 2020.

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