Judge seizes control of Arizona’s prison health care after 14 years of failures

By: Jim Small

Outlets: Arizona Mirror

Published: February 20, 2026

Words: 1,052

Last Updated: 4 months, 2 weeks ago

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After 14 years of litigation, two contempt findings, millions of dollars in fines, a 15-day trial and repeated violations of a permanent injunction, a federal judge decided Thursday she has no choice but to take the “drastic” step of placing Arizona’s prison health care system into receivership to remedy an “systemically unconstitutional” system.

The order covers all 10 Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry prisons and every incarcerated person in Arizona state custody — …

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