PHOENIX — A federal judge on Wednesday rejected a bid by the head of the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation, and Reentry to delay her takeover of the prison health system.
In her new order, Judge Roslyn Silver said there is no basis for the claims by attorneys for Ryan Thornell that she had not weighed all the factors when deciding to appoint a receiver to ensure proper care for the 25,000 inmates in state-run facilities.
The judge detailed the things she considered before concluding that, after 14 years of litigation filed on behalf of inmates, the physical and mental health care being provided still fails to meet constitutional standards.