Ninth Circuit Keeps Arizona Prison Class Action Lawsuit Alive

An appeals court has denied the dismissal of a class action lawsuit alleging inhumane treatment at Arizona prisons, deciding that questions regarding the denial of healthcare may constitute a violation of the 8th Amendment of the Constitution in terms of cruel and unusual punishment.

Questions regarding the penal practices in Arizona are nothing new, but mainly at the county level with concerns about how Sheriff Joe Arpaio treats inmates. In this class action lawsuit, however, more than a dozen plaintiffs have alleged that the work done by private companies that have prison contracts with the state are not providing adequate healthcare.

The Arizona prison class action lawsuit provides examples such as correctional officers allegedly engaging in healthcare negligence by refusing to call for medical attention in the cases of an apparent heart attack and a woman experiencing spotting while pregnant, who was also denied access to doctors. The Arizona Department of Corrections merely responded to the class action lawsuit with copies of its current policies, which the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals panel decided actually worked against them.

Judge Stephen Reinhardt said the Arizona prison class action lawsuit should be maintained because the policies are inadequate and could be examples of “systemic failures” because the incidents noted by the inmates of reported cruel and unusual punishment were merely used as anecdotes to describe what they see as improper care.

Two other key issues that the class action lawsuit argues constitute 8th Amendment violations concern substance abuse and mental health concerns. In both cases, it was noted that inmates were not provided adequate food and were often left in isolation cells. Again, Reinhardt wrote that if those are examples of actual policies, as the plaintiffs allege, then it should be up to a judge to decide whether or not the 34,000 inmates who may be affected by cruel and unusual punishment as set by private prison practices is healthcare negligence.

Those organizations have been the focus of a growing amount of litigation, as plaintiffs allege that since they are for-profit entities, there is a necessary vested interest in decreasing costs relative to their government contracts.

The Arizona Prison Inhumane Treatment Class Action Lawsuit is Richard Gonzalez v. Charles Ryan, et al., Case No. 14-cv-15934, in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.