Donna Leone Hamm
Founder/Executive Director
James Hamm, J.D.Director of Program / Advocacy Services
"To protect and define the rights, responsibilities, and privileges of the incarcerated"
Welcome
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A SINCERE WELCOME TO OUR NEW ADCRR DIRECTOR, RYAN THORNELL, Ph.D., WHO FORMERLY DIRECTED THE PRISON SYSTEM IN MAINE. HE BEGAN HIS DUTIES HERE IN ARIZONA ON JANUARY 30, 2023. WE HAVE MET WITH HIM IN PERSON AND SHARED OUR PERSPECTIVE ON IMPROVING THE ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, REHABILITATION & REENTRY'S MISSION TO PROTECT PUBLIC SAFETY AND REHABILITATE CRIMINAL OFFENDERS SO THAT THEY BECOME LAW-ABIDING, PRODUCTIVE COMMUNITY CITIZENS UPON RELEASE.
WE ARE PLEASED TO LEARN ABOUT GOV. KATIE HOBBS' DECISION TO APPOINT COMMISSIONS TO CONDUCT OVERSIGHT OF THE ADCRR, AS WELL AS TO CONDUCT AN AUDIT OF THE ADCRR'S EXECUTION PROTOCOLS. ALTHOUGH WE GENERALLY THINK THAT COMMITTEES CAN BE A WASTE OF TIME AND USUALLY DON'T ACCOMPLISH MUCH EXCEPT WRITING REPORTS, WE ARE HOPEFUL THAT THE GOVERNOR WILL USE THE INFORMATION SHE LEARNS FROM EACH OF THESE TWO CRITICAL AREAS TO MAKE SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS. THE CURRENT REPORT ON DEATH PENALTY POLICIES IS DUE IN NOVEMBER, AS IS THE REPORT TO BE ISSUED BY THE OVERSIGHT COMMISSION. UNFORTUNATELY, ALTHOUGH THE OVERSIGHT COMMISSION IS SUBJECT TO THE OPEN MEETING LAWS, THE GOVERNOR'S OFFICE HAS NOT RESPONDED TO OUR REQUEST FOR MEETING NOTICES. THIS IS DISTURBING AND ILLEGAL. STILL, WE ARE HOPING FOR A POSITIVE OUTCOME.
WELCOME TO OUR WEBSITE. Donna Leone Hamm, Director, is a volunteer for Middle Ground Prison Reform. No fees are charged for work performed by Middle Ground. In addition to her volunteer work, Donna is a self-employed expert witness in prison policy and procedure, executive clemency, and parenting issues for the incarcerated. She also researches and prepares mitigation and alternative sentencing reports for private attorneys, assists inmates or their families to prepare for hearings before the Board of Executive Clemency in commutation, parole, revocation, absolute discharge and pardon hearings. This is fee-based worked that is entirely unrelated to Middle Ground Prison Reform. Donna was formerly a lower court/limited jurisdiction non-attorney judge for 11 years.
James Hamm is a former prisoner in Arizona, who earned a summa cum laude bachelor's degree in applied Sociology while incarcerated. He was incarcerated from 1974-1992, was granted a Governor's Commutation of Sentence, paroled, and was granted an absolute discharge in 2001. After his release, he attended and graduated from ASU College of Law, and passed the State Bar exam. However, due to his 1974 felony, he was denied admission to practice in Arizona. All of his work for Middle Ground Prison Reform, including legislative lobbying, answering prisoner mail, researching issues and writing position papers, media appearances and university class presentations, is performed as a volunteer. In his professional work life, James assists several attorneys on appeals, post-conviction relief and habeas petitions, and is an expert in prison gangs, time computation and other prison policy issues. His professional work is fee based.
Middle Ground Prison Reform is not a law firm; we are an all-volunteer non-profit organization which advocates to protect and educate the incarcerated and their supporters. Nothing on this site is intended to be legal advice. If you require the services of an attorney, you should contact an attorney who specializes in the subject matter of concern to you. We can sometimes provide referrals to attorneys. All information contained herein is provided for informational and/or educational purposes and may contain personal opinions of the administration or may contain information we have copied or repeated from other documents.
We hope the information posted here is helpful, especially if you are attempting to navigate the difficult and sometimes confusing and insensitive criminal justice system in Arizona. Arizona has one of the harshest criminal codes in the USA and our state prison system is rife with problems: lack of adequate or effective medical care, including for referrals to outside specialists; gangs who harm or extort inmates or their families; cruel or negligent treatment of the mentally ill; overuse of solitary confinement cell; rule-breaking by prison guards; lack of cohesive rehabilitation programming; unfair disciplinary system; ineffective grievance system, among many other issues. Arizona is the only state where visitors are charged a fee when applying for visitation at the state prisons, and none of the fee is used for visitation purposes. Arizona prisons also have the largest population of protective custody inmates, which implies that the system is becoming more dangerous for inmates. Security procedures employed at the prisons are often just for "show" and are meaningless in providing actual security. Only in 2016, after inmate litigation, has the Arizona Dept. of Corrections attempted to integrate its housing units and job offerings. Middle Ground Prison Reform has been in continuous operation since 1983 Donna Leone Hamm, Director, was appointed to the DOC Director's Stakeholder Committee, as mandated by Gov. Ducey, to advise the Department on various constituent issues or concerns. However, during the administration of former DOC Director Charles Ryan, the committee became dormant and has not been re-activated under the new Director, David Shinn or under the newest Director, Ryan Thornell.
OUR MISSION STATEMENT:
We support genuine efforts at rehabilitation of criminal offenders, which, in turn, fully restores them to our communities, promotes family stability, authentic long-term public safety, and reduces the numbers of crime victims in our society. We engage in efforts to hold government agencies and their agents accountable for the tax dollars used to support prisons, jails, and other criminal justice activities. We perform this work via public education, legislative advocacy, litigation, and referral to existing social services. We serve as a clearinghouse for relevant information affecting the incarcerated and their supporters.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT. Here's a sign that should be hung in every prison in the country:
IF YOU DON'T HEAL WHAT HURT YOU, YOU'LL BLEED ON PEOPLE WHO DIDN'T CUT YOU.
Note: Middle Ground is non-profit organization which addresses prison and jail issues of concern to prisoners and their supporters. We are not a direct social service delivery agency. Therefore, we do not offer or locate jobs, tools, clothing, educational loans, housing, financial assistance or any other direct social services. See our referrals to such agencies on the Menu item called "Ex Offender Information." We don't provide free attorneys to assist with criminal appeals or civil rights, personal injury or other types of litigation. Outside the work of Middle Ground and entirely separate from it, James or Donna Hamm can be retained privately by attorneys or litigants for such work as expert witness, mitigation or alternative presentence reports, appeals, PCR's, etc. , or for educational consulting about prison or jail policies, practices, contacts, resources or regarding information about appearing before the Arizona Board of Executive Clemency for commutation, parole, revocation, pardon or absolute discharge hearings. OUR OFFICES DO NOT ACCEPT WALK IN VISITORS: PLEASE CALL TO SCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENT.
THIS IS OUR POLICY ON ANSWERING SNAIL-MAIL: Presently, there are about 37,000 people incarcerated in the state's prison system. In addition, about 10,000 people are incarcerated in the Maricopa County Jail at any given time. On average, we receive about 300 letters and/or post cards each month. Many of the letters contain lengthy correspondence on a variety of issues. We are sorry to say that we are unable to personally respond to each piece of mail. We simply don't have the staff, volunteers or budget to do so. Due to Covid-19 and its variants which continue to circulate, we have chosen to no longer utilize volunteers to come to our office to assist with answering snail mail. We do try to read the mail so that we can stay abreast of what is happening that is of concern to prisoners, but it is impossible to answer each individual letter or package sent to us. We regret the inability to do so. In addition, by law we are not responsible for unsolicited mail. Stamps are welcome and will enhance, but not guarantee, a reply. We do not publish a hard copy newsletter. Instead, we encourage free world visitors to visit this website to download and send copies of pertinent information to prisoners. Please review mail regulations/policy before doing so and advise us in detail if you have difficulties getting web site materials into the prison units. AGAIN, WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR UNSOLICITED MAIL OR ANY DOCUMENTS THAT ARE SENT TO US. WE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO RETURN THEM UNLESS FULL RETURN POSTAGE IS SENT WITH THE DOCUMENTS. PLEASE ADVISE PRISONERS TO AVOID SENDING ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS OR THE ONLY COPY OF AN IMPORTANT DOCUMENT TO US OR TO ANYONE YOU HAVE NOT FIRST OBTAINED PERMISSION FROM!
DO YOU NEED ASSISTANCE WITH INTERVIEWING/HIRING AN ATTORNEY?
TIPS FOR RETAINING A CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY FOR YOUR CRIMINAL CASE OR FOR AN APPEAL, AND FOR PROTECTING YOURSELF FROM UNETHICAL OR UNPROFESSIONAL LAWYERS:
UNFORTUNATELY, MANY ATTORNEYS ARE UNETHICAL AND WILL ACCEPT MONEY FROM CLIENTS FOR CRIMINAL LEGAL WORK THAT HAS ZERO CHANCE OF SUCCESS IN ANY COURT. MANY ATTORNEYS WILL NOT OFFER A WRITTEN FEE AGREEMENT -- YOU MUST SPECIFICALLY ASK FOR IT YOURSELF -- SO THAT IF THEY USE UP THE ENTIRE FEE YOU HAVE ALREADY PAID THEM, YOU WON'T EVEN KNOW AT WHAT HOURLY RATE THEY HAVE CHARGED YOU FOR THEIR SERVICES THUS FAR. MANY ATTORNEYS WILL MAKE PROMISES THEY KNOW THEY CANNOT KEEP ("Just write me a check and I'll get your son out of prison within 6 months . . .") BUT IF YOU DON'T GET THE PROMISE IN WRITING, THEY WILL LATER DENY THEY EVER SAID IT. MANY ATTORNEYS WORKING WITH CRIMINAL DEFENDANTS WILL TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE VULNERABLE AND NEEDY PERIOD OF YOUR LIFE AND WILL CHARGE FEES FOR WORK THAT SHOULD NEVER COST AS MUCH AS THEY CHARGE. SEE OUR SUGGESTIONS BELOW:
Prior to your first consultation appointment, visit the State Bar of Arizona web site and click on "Working with an Attorney," to determine if the attorney you are meeting with has any past serious disciplinary information posted. Depending upon the nature of the discipline, you can use your own judgment about whether you wish to proceed to retain this attorney. Feel free to ask him or her questions about the disciplinary action and what steps the attorney has taken to ensure that the infraction or conduct will not occur in the future. If the attorney refuses to discuss these matters with you, especially since the information is posted as a public record, you need to decide if this is someone you want to trust with your own legal problems or needs.
The Arizona Bar information, however, will give you only minimal information about a disciplinary action; no details about what the lawyer did to result in the discipline will e revealed. To obtain the full details of any lawyer's behavior which led to disciplinary action, you must visit the Arizona Supreme Court web site or contact the State Bar. Only the Supreme Court can impose discipline; the State Bar can only recommend it.
The State Bar publishes suggested questions for someone to ask when a person is preparing to retain an attorney. Those questions are listed on their web site, also under the tab, "Working With An Attorney." However, the Bar's suggested questions are not very probing, seem rather superficial, and clearly do not provide sufficient, detailed information, especially when one considers that hiring an attorney -- especially for a criminal matter -- often means placing a second mortgage on a house, dipping into retirement accounts or life savings; etc. We suggest, when hiring a criminal defense attorney, that you add to the State Bar's suggested questions by asking:
1. Have you ever been the subject of a state bar or supreme court disciplinary action of any type? In Arizona? In any other state or jurisdiction in which you've practiced?
2. If so, what was it and where can I read about it? Will you give me a copy of the final decision?
3. What complaint is most often made about you or your firm from your clients?4. What have you done (or are you doing) to resolve those concerns?
5. Can I receive a hard copy of all the records on my case each time you file something with the court, or communicate with the state? If not, why not? If so,
will I be charged for those copies? How much per page?
6. Can I give you a direct order that I don't wish to waive my presence at any court appearances, no matter how minor they seem to you, on my case? If not, why not? For what types of hearings would you ordinarily waive an appearance of your client? Or another way of addressing the same issue is:
7. If I tell you now, before I hire you, that I want to be included in all in camera conferences in the judge's chambers which involve my case, will you agree to insure that I am present for such conferences? If not, why not?
8. If you or your family are told (prior to retaining the attorney) that he/she can get the client out of (jail/prison) within a specific amount of time, ask: Will you put that guarantee in writing with an agreement to refund my fee in full if you do not succeed? If not, why not? Have I misunderstood something you said?
9. If I am convicted of (these) charges, at what point will you file a Notice of Withdrawal as my attorney of record? Before filing the Notice of Appeal/PCR? If so, who will file the Notices which involve time-dated deadlines?
10. If I am convicted of (these) charges (or agree to a plea agreement), will you ensure that I have at least 48 hours to review the entire PSR (Presentence Investigation Report) prior to the sentencing hearing, so that I can ensure that it is complete and accurate? If I find significant errors, will you assure me that these errors will be incorporated into a Revised/Amended PSR which will be attached by court order to the original PSR, so that the Department of Corrections will have both the original and the corrected version for its files?
11. Will you put the above agreements/provisions in your Fee Agreement/Contract? If not, why not?
12. When clients compliment you on your representation, what types of comments do they make?
13. Can I or my family tape record meetings with you to ensure that we correctly remember the contents of our conversations? If not, why not? Do you object to my taking notes on our conversations?
14. Are you familiar with A.R.S. 13-603 (L)? Please explain it to me. (Note: This is a statute which allows the defense attorney -- at the time of sentencing only -- to request that the sentencing judge issue an Order which permits the defendant to apply to the Board of Executive Clemency for a sentence reduction IF, AND ONLY IF, THE JUDGE BELIEVES THAT THE SENTENCE TO BE IMPOSED IS 'CLEARLY EXCESSIVE.' This statute would not apply, for example, to someone who is sentenced to the super-mitigated term of imprisonment, etc.) If a criminal defense attorney indicates that he/she is not familiar with ARS 13-603 (L), think carefully about hiring that individual. It would mean that the person really doesn't extend himself for his clients and isn't up to date on all factors which affect a client's sentencing hearing.
15. Will you be the person working on my case, or will the case be assigned to an associate attorney who works in your office? How much work can I expect YOU to perform on the case? Who will appear in court on the case -- you or your associate?
NOTE: As explained on the state bar and other web sites, a state bar or supreme court disciplinary action is different from a state bar complaint. Anyone can file a complaint against an attorney, and many do. Many complaints are simply unfounded or are filed by a disgruntled client. An actual disciplinary action (which can result in anything from an informal reprimand all the way up to complete disbarment) means that the original complaint was found to have merit and that action was ultimately taken against the lawyer to impose consequences of some type for that behavior. From start to finish, especially in a claim that has merit, the process of disciplining a licensed attorney is long and slow.
Is it advisable to be wary of or refuse to hire an attorney who has been previously disciplined while serving as an officer of the court in a position of the highest trust? Only you and your family can be the judge. Remember, ask questions and get all agreements in writing -- especially if the attorney promises a particular outcome to your case. Read every word of every document before signing it. A Fee Agreement is a legal contract, just as a Plea Agreement is a legal contract.
If you decide you are not pleased with the services of an attorney you have already hired, you can fire him. Call him by telephone, but ALSO put the information in WRITING and send it by certified mail to the attorney. Tell him on the telephone and in writing to cease working on your case immediately and to submit to you an itemized account of all fees he has expended (against the retainer or fee you have already paid). You should expect to receive such accounting within 30 days. Ask for all records of the case to be returned to you (arrange to pick them up in person, if possible). If you feel that the attorney has charged you far too much money and has not been able to account for it by demonstrating actual work on your case, you can file a complaint with the State Bar "Fee Arbitration" section. Even if the Fee Agreement that you signed with an attorney state that your retainer is for a "flat rate" fee, your fee or a portion of it is still refundable if you take the right steps. READ YOUR FEE AGREEMENT. The process of obtaining a refund from an uncooperative attorney will not move quickly, so don't count on return of any funds from one attorney before you can hire another, but sometimes the Bar does order the attorney to refund portions of fees that are considered to be excessive when compared with the amount of work performed. Contact the State Bar of Arizona for forms that allow the fee arbitration process to begin.
DON'T BE PRESSURED BY THE ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS OR BY THEIR PRIVATELY CONTRACTED HEALTH CARE PROVIDER TO PURCHASE RECORDS THAT YOU DON'T REALLY WANT OR NEED! Due to medical information/records privacy laws, known as HIPPA, in order to obtain medical or psychological records for an inmate (whether you are a family member, an attorney, or other), your incarcerated loved one must first sign a "Medical Information Release Authorization Form" at the prison. It is often referred to as an ROI -- Release of Information form. The inmate obtains the form from the Medical Dept. at the prison, fills it out, and they keep it on file with the medical provider at the prison. The form stays in effect for a limited or specified period of time, so the inmate needs to be aware that every so often (between 1-3 years) he may need to renew the authorizations he indicated in the form. A regular "Power of Attorney" form isn't recognized by the Department as adequate to provide access to medical records unless it is specifically a MEDICAL POWER of ATTORNEY.
If the inmate is provided a copy of the ROI, he should send it to whomever he has authorized to have access to his medical/mental health records. If at any point in time you request a copy of his medical file, the DOC provider will count ALL the pages in the entire inmate's record and send you an invoice for each page, at $.50/page. A NEW LAW PASSED IN 2023 REQUIRES THE DEPARTMENT TO PROVIDE THE MEDICAL RECORDS WITHOUT CHARGE IF THEY PROVIDE THEM BY DIGITAL MEANS. IF YOU REQUEST HARD COPY RECORDS, YOU WILL BE CHARGED THE PER PAGE FEE.
For inmates who have been incarcerated for years or who have serious medical problems, the medical/psychological files might be extremely voluminous. Therefore, paying for all of the records might run into the hundreds of dollars. AGAIN, ACCORDING TO A NEW 2023 LAW, YOU DON'T HAVE TO PAY THIS CHARGE IF YOU REQUEST DIGITAL RECORDS.
We have also discovered other problems when obtaining authorized medical/psychological records from the ADOC. Be sure to insist that they collect/obtain records from all of their scattered files -- Institutional, Master Record, Medical/Mental Health, Hospital and all other files. Also, when you examine the files, be sure to confirm that the records are up to date. Our experience is that even when personally examining medical files, the latest entries are sometimes several months old at the time of examination. What this really means is that the medical provider is maintaining yet another file on this particular inmate's medical record that they have not shared with the requesting party OR that their records on the inmate are not up to date! Also, check to insure that a document that is supposed to be, say, 3 pages in length DOES contain all 3 pages.
Finally, we have become aware of cases where an inmate has duly authorized a family member to examine and/or purchase copies of his medical/psychological file and -- although the paperwork has been filled out completely and properly -- the DOC staff or someone from the provider will inform the inmate that "no one can look at your file." This is false and should be challenged. We are also aware of cases in which an inmate has repeatedly requested the ROI form so he can designate someone to have access to his files, but is repeatedly informed, "We don't have any blank forms." If this happens, the family member of the inmate should contact us at our email address (
If anyone has difficulty obtaining or examining medical/psychological files -- after obtaining the required authorization forms -- please let us know. REMEMBER: A "Power of Attorney" is NOT the same as a Medical Information Release Authorization Form and is not recognized UNLESS it is specifically identified as a MEDICAL INFORMATION POWER OF ATTORNEY.
UPON ENTRY TO THE PRISON SYSTEM, EACH PRISONER SHOULD FILL OUT AN ROI -- RELEASE OF INFORMATION FORM. DON'T WAIT UNTIL YOUR LOVED ONE IS SICK OR HOSPITALIZED AND YOU ARE TRYING TO OBTAIN MEDICAL INFORMATION ONLY TO LEARN THAT THE INMATE HAS NOT AUTHORIZED ANYONE TO OBTAIN HIS HIPPA-PROTECTED INFORMATION.
Can't locate a prisoner or need to know his/her address in an Arizona prison?
First, visit the Arizona Department of Corrections website at www.azcorrections.gov and check to see if the prisoner you are searching for is in their Inmate Data Search. At present, once you locate a specific inmate, the mailing address, including his unit, is listed on the Data Search page for that inmate. If you are trying to locate and inmate who has a very common name ("John Smith") and you don't know the ADCRR number, and unless you are a victim of a crime, you must call Constituent Services at the Arizona Department of Corrections at: (602) 364-3945 or, toll-free at 866-333-2039.
Do you know who your state legislators are? If not, go to Vote Smart Organization and enter your zip code in the left-hand column.
Web site design and hosting donated by: Mobile Tech Support and The Cyberimage, (623) 937-8555
The Balanced Approach
In Arizona, we spend millions of tax dollars on our prison system and jail system. We must ensure that those dollars are being spent wisely, effectively and carefully. We must define long term public safety in such a way that it incorporates concern for the treatment received by offenders while incarcerated and the impact their treatment will have on their behavior once they are released into the community. Long-term public safety MUST be the goal of any authentic correctional system.
Middle Ground recognizes that certain individuals are a danger to the citizens of Arizona and that vigilant incarceration is a primary concern for these offenders. We also recognize the necessity of:
-Identifying those offenders who authentically accept responsibility for their criminal conduct, sincerely wish to become productive, contributing citizens, and;
Assisting them with vigorous efforts to correct themselves while serving their sentence.
Once incarcerated, every effort must be made to appropriately classify those who wish to correct themselves from those who refuse to change their behavior and attitudes. Ethical, thoughtful, and professional programs must be offered, and humane treatment provided for ALL criminal offenders. It is both reasonable and prudent (in society's best interest) to foster the integration of corrected offenders into our community. This can only be accomplished by providing realistic opportunities for academic and vocational development, and for personal renewal in psychological and spiritual realms during the time of incarceration.
Prisons consist of large aggregations of people with serious social and/or psychological problems. The staff are often composed of large aggregations of people who are either indifferent or -- in far too many cases -- opposed to the idea of positive change. Many so-called "correctional" staff simply do not believe that people can change. This leads to lip service and false impressions regarding alleged programs of "rehabilitation."
Here are many issues which need to be addressed in the prison reform arena. Below is a list of some issues, but clearly is not exhaustive:
- the philosophy of prison "for" punishment, rather than "as" punishment
- brutality imposed on inmates by other inmates, and by staff on inmates.
- the inhumanity of prison rules, policies, regulations, practices and day-to-day treatment
- institutional indifference to an authentic correctional plan of action
- the treatment of the mentally ill and those with serious medical issues, including
- insufficient staffing levels, inadequate pain management, untimely referral to specialists
- cruel and insensitive treatment of mentally ill prisoners; high rates of suicide, etc.
- sexual harassment of female prisoners and sexual violence in general
- the lack of training in marketable job skills for prisoners
- the serious lack of release planning (and follow through by the DOC) and its consequences for recidivism
- the almost insurmountable obstacles faced by released offenders when they seek jobs, housing, family reunification, restoration of rights, and general acceptance into the community
- issues involving protective segregation of vulnerable prisoners
- gang violence and management
- staff training/professionalism/screening/recruitment
- the lack of commitment to or opportunity for meaningful post-secondary education
- the over-use of "super-max" (gulag-type) security units, and the consequences thereof
Middle Ground Prison Reform is dedicated to public education, legislative advocacy and litigation, when necessary, to protect the rights and responsibilities of prison and jail inmates and their loved ones. We believe in a middle-of-the-road approach (considering the perspectives of all stakeholders) to solving problems and challenges, rather than one which supports the extreme of any position.
Note: Middle Ground does not perform legal work, nor do we provide pro bono attorneys to represent clients or classes of clients in lawsuits, provide legal advice on any issue, or represent clients before any judicial or administrative body. We are an activist organization. If you desire referral to an attorney, expert witness, mitigation specialist, or a person who prepares alternative pre-sentence investigation reports, please call Donna Hamm or James Hamm, Criminal Justice Consultants at 480 966-8116. Also, see the section called "Individualized Advocacy" on this web site.
ARIZONA PRISONERS ARE PERMITTED BY DOC POLICY TO RECEIVE APPROPRIATE INFORMATION WHICH HAS BEEN DOWNLOADED FROM THE INTERNET. IF YOU WISH TO SEND A DOWNLOADED COPY OF ANY INFORMATION FROM MIDDLE GROUND TO A PRISONER, YOU NEED TO SIMPLY MARK THE OUTSIDE OF YOUR ENVELOPE TO THE PRISONER: "PERMITTED INTERNET MATERIALS ENCLOSED." ARIZONA PRISON OFFICIALS MAY NOT PROHIBIT INTERNET MATERIALS (SUCH AS CASE LAW, NEWSPAPER ARTICLES, OTHER INTERNET MATERIALS) AS LONG AS THE MATERIAL BEING SENT IS NOT RACIST, PORNOGRAPHIC, OR WHICH -- IF IT ENTERED THE INSTITUTION -- WOULD JEOPARDIZE THE SAFE AND ORDERLY OPERATION OF A PRISON. WE SPECIFICALLY RECOMMEND DOWNLOADING INFORMATION FROM OUR EX-OFFENDER PAGE TO SEND TO INMATES WHO ARE NEARING THEIR RELEASE DATE. ALL MATERIALS ON THIS WEB SITE ARE ALLOWED TO BE MAILED TO PRISONERS.
COPIES OF MATERIALS OR INFORMATION FROM THE ACTUAL DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS WEB SITE ARE PERMITTED, INCLUDING COPIES OF POLICIES, REPORTS, ETC. WITH THE EXCEPTION OF INMATE DATABASE INFORMATION LISTING THE INMATE'S CRIME, DISCIPLINARY, CLASSIFICATION, PAROLE ACTION AND OTHER CATEGORIES. Questions? Call us (480) 966-8116
WE WILL NEVER FORGET MARCIA POWELL:
Marcia Powell was killed at the Perryville Prison on May 19, 2009, when prison guards placed her in an outdoor cage in the hot sun for a minimum of four (4) hours without shade or water, and without checking on her welfare. We wrote to Gov. Jan Brewer (which was copied to the FBI and to the U.S. Dept. of Justice), asking for an independent criminal investigation of Marcia Powell's death. None was conducted. We also wrote to County Attorney (Acting) Richard Romley, urging prosecution for the prison employees who killed Marcia Powell. As a result of a decision made by the Maricopa County Attorney, no criminal charges were filed against any prison employee over Marcia's brutal death in prison at the hands of DOC employees.
On September 23, 2009, the Department of Corrections released a 3,000+ page report on their investigation into the death of Marcia Powell. It is gruesome reading. Some of the details include:
1. Before Marcia was placed in the outdoor cage, she had passed out in her cell. She told staff she was suicidal. The Sgt. who saw Marcia lose consciousness never reported the incident to supervisors, despite the fact that Marcia said she was having trouble breathing.
2. During the investigation, at least 20 inmates told investigators that Marcia was continuously requesting water, but it was denied. All the guards who were interviewed said she was given water. Staff are obviously willing to lie in a death investigation to "cover" for each other.
3. Marcia was taking psychotropic medications at the time (prescribed) which made her particularly sensitive to the heat, but no medical personnel conveyed that fact to prison guards.
4. After more than 2 hours (which was the maximum time allowed in the outdoor cage per policy), Marcia requested to be taken back to her indoor cell. The request was denied.
5. Marcia requested to use a restroom. The request was denied. She defecated in the cage. Twice. A guard discovered that she had soiled herself and left her right where she was. Medical personnel would later discover feces underneath her fingernails and all over her back.
6. The psych unit to which Marcia was awaiting transport should have accepted her hours before she died, but a series of "miscommunications" prevented her from being taken in. Guards who were near the end of their shift did not want to begin the lengthy paperwork process required for a transfer, so they left the job for the next shift, which meant that Marcia was left in the cage for longer and longer amounts of time.
7. No logs, as required by existing-at-the-time DOC policy, were kept on Marcia's time in the outdoor cage. No one has been able to determine how long she was actually in the cage. The DOC has claimed that is was about 3.5 hours. It could have been much more and, according to some inmates who wrote to Middle Ground, is was much longer than 4 hours.
8. Thermometers recorded Marcia's core body temperature at 108 degrees, but the temp could have been higher; the thermometers topped out at 108.
No family member came forward to claim Marsha's body. The DOC was intending to bury her in the prison graveyard in Florence. We obtained a special court order to take control of her body and make final arrangements. We obtained voluntary cremation services from a local mortuary and placed her ashes in a dignified memorial wall at a non-denominational church in Phoenix. We placed a porcelain coffee cup and saucer with her, because Marsha loved coffee so much. Even though Marsha had been adopted as a young child, no one ever came forth to claim her remains. We asked the DOC to name a unit at Perryville for her -- the Marsha Unit -- but to no avail. No legislators came forward to condemn the Department; no politicians, ever criticized the Department in public or in the media at all. But the then-Director, Charles Ryan, allowed Middle Ground to tour the Lewis and Perryville Prison to observe the changes they had made to the "outdoor holding cages," including adding shade, benches, water. Still, in Arizona, no one should be outside in our heat for more than 30 minutes -- ever -- and this is what the Department MUST strive for.
Our comments: Reading about the "emerging details" contained in the DOC's 3,000 page investigative report on Marcia Powell's death is sickening. Anyone with an iota of compassion for one's fellow man cannot help but be mortified to think about the horror of Marcia's final hours and minutes. The actions of the DOC personnel go beyond cruel; they are barbaric. One expects to read about this sort of thing in a Third-World country. The number of people involved, the types of unprofessional conduct (euphemistically referred to by the DOC as "miscommunications"), and the seriousness of the actions taken or not taken lead inescapably to one conclusion: namely, that Marcia Powell's death at Perryville was the tip of an iceberg that reveals a much larger and more endemic problem at the Perryville Complex (and perhaps throughout the DOC). The 3,000 page report is an indictment of the Perryville corrections personnel on virtually every level, and clearly bespeaks not only a lack of staff training, but an extraordinarily serious problem with supervision. There was obviously no belief whatsoever by numerous personnel that anyone had any duty to follow policy and procedure, or to actually care for the inmates in their care and custody.
The title of the 3,000 page investigative report should be, "BACKYARD BULLIES ON THE ARIZONA STATE PAYROLL."