Federal judge found Arizona's prison healthcare system unconstitutional after 15-day trial

On June 30, 2022, U.S. District Judge Roslyn O. Silver issued a 200-page ruling finding that the Arizona Department of Corrections had violated the Eighth Amendment rights of the roughly 34,000 people incarcerated in its 10 state prisons by providing constitutionally inadequate medical and mental health care. Silver wrote that the department "failed to provide, and continues to refuse to provide, a constitutionally adequate medical care and mental health care system," describing conditions as "plainly grossly inadequate," and separately found the state's use of prolonged isolation housing unconstitutional.

The ruling followed a 15-day bench trial held in November and December 2021, with testimony from incarcerated people, prison officials, and medical experts. The case began as a class action, Parsons v. Ryan, filed March 22, 2012, alleging systemic failures in prison healthcare and excessive use of isolation. A 2014 settlement requiring 103 specific performance measures produced years of continued noncompliance; in July 2021, Silver rescinded the settlement after finding the state had committed "pervasive material breaches" of its terms, and ordered the case to trial rather than continue enforcing an agreement the state was not honoring.

The case was later recaptioned Jensen v. Shinn and then Jensen v. Thornell as the department's director changed.

Updates

2023-01-09 — Court issued remedial order requiring staffing and screening fixes [2, 3]

Judge Silver ordered ADCRR to bring medical and mental-health staffing up to court-set minimum caseloads within three months, develop a staffing plan for isolation housing units, submit quarterly staffing reports, and ensure new intakes receive medical and mental-health screenings within one business day, citing the department's continued noncompliance with prior settlement terms.

2023-04-07 — Permanent injunction imposed 154 compliance standards [2, 3]

Silver entered a 57-page permanent injunction requiring sweeping changes to medical care procedures, staffing levels, electronic health records, and solitary-confinement practices, including capping isolation placements longer than two months at 22 hours a day.

2025-02-11 — Advocates moved to place prison healthcare under court receivership [4]

The ACLU, ACLU of Arizona, Prison Law Office, and Disability Rights Arizona filed a motion asking Judge Silver to appoint a receiver to assume control of healthcare management for approximately 30,000 incarcerated people in Arizona prisons, citing continued noncompliance with the April 2023 injunction and what advocates described as "preventable deaths, permanent injuries, and needless suffering."

2026-07-17 — Federal judge appointed Annette Chambers-Smith as healthcare receiver [5]

U.S. District Judge Roslyn O. Silver appointed Annette Chambers-Smith, former director of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections, as receiver with authority over all healthcare personnel, operations, and budgets for more than 25,000 people incarcerated in Arizona state prisons.