A very warm welcome to new
writers on both sides of the pond and I hope everyone’s friendships, both new
and old, are going well. Thank you to everyone for your letters, emails and
cards; it is always good to hear from you.
I am very
sorry to say that we have lost three more friends in Arizona since my last
Statelines went to press. Robert Smith died on 5th February at Chandler Medical
Center, two years after his death sentence was overturned. Sadly, Robert was
still waiting to move off the row and so did not get a chance to enjoy the
comparative freedoms of general population, which his penfriend says he was
looking forward to. On 9th February Graham Henry died of cancer aged 71; his
penfriend’s moving farewell letter to him is printed in this issue. My thoughts
are with their penfriends, James and Stephen, and their friends at Browning and
Central units. Brian Dann also died on 1st March; he did not have a
LifeLines penfriend, but my thoughts are with his friends on the row. (Source:
AZDOC)
I sense it
may be a difficult time on the row at the moment, particularly in Central Unit
perhaps, where several of our friends have passed away in recent months. You are
all in my thoughts. I also often hear from people on the row about long waits
for medical assistance or tests and I cannot imagine how stressful this must be
for you, your friends and family. It will therefore perhaps not come as a
surprise to you that Arizona’s prison healthcare has recently been in the news
again. Dr. Rodney Stewart is the medical director at ASPC Eyman and works for
Corizon, the healthcare company used in Arizona prisons. In March he testified in
a U.S. District Court hearing about Arizona prison healthcare, stating that up
to 80% of inmates at ASPC Eyman had Hepatitis C. Arizona Department of
Corrections reports paint a very different picture, claiming only 15% of
prisoners in the entire AZDOC population have the virus.
While
Hepatitis C can now be effectively treated with antiviral medication, it is
expensive - $43,000 to $94,500 for a 12-week course of treatment according to a
2016 study by Yale and Harvard universities. If left untreated, it can have
serious consequences. An AZ Central article reports that, since executions were
put on hold in 2014, five people on the row have died from Hepatitis C related
infections, according to their attorneys and relatives. Brian Dann had to sue the
director of the AZDOC last year in order to get the drugs. He was successful,
but, due to the liver damage already caused by the virus, he needed an operation
and sadly died during the procedure. A spokesman for AZDOC said, "The
department treats Hepatitis C inmates pursuant to, and consistent with, Federal
Bureau of Prisons guidelines." Those federal guidelines include an "opt-out"
provision, meaning prisoners can voluntarily refuse testing. Then treatment
depends on the level of cirrhosis. (Source: AZ Central). I wish you all good
health and strength of spirit in the coming months.
There is
more bad news I’m afraid as the
Supreme Court has decided not to hear either part of Hidalgo v. Arizona – the
case reported in the winter Wing – which challenged the constitutionality of
both Arizona’s death penalty and of the death penalty nationwide. However, Justice
Breyer did issue a statement, joined by Justices Ginsburg, Sotomayor and Kagan,
inviting a further challenge with more evidence. Using public records requests,
Mr. Hidalgo’s lawyers had obtained information about 860 first-degree murder
cases in one Arizona county that showed essentially every defendant was
eligible for the death penalty under the state’s sentencing laws. “That
evidence is unrebutted,” Breyer wrote. “It points to a possible constitutional
problem … Evidence of this kind warrants careful attention and evaluation.” But Breyer said the case
lacked enough expert evidence or studies to properly review the constitutionality
of the death penalty.
(Sources: New
York Times and Reuters)
To end on
good news – in March the death penalty was taken off the table for Darrell Ketchner,
who had his conviction overturned in 2014 and is still awaiting a new trial.
(Source: Mohave daily news) The Las Vegas Review Journal reported the
prosecutors cited the cost of pursuing a death sentence as the reason for their
decision. They have also withdrawn the death penalty as an option for another
high profile case saying,
"There is no reasonable likelihood of the death penalty actually being
imposed in a realistic and efficient timeframe given the current state of
affairs surrounding persons sentenced to death." Maricopa County
Prosecutor Bill Montgomery said, "I can tell you we have fewer capital
cases pending than at any time in the last 20 years”. Death penalty cases are
down in both Maricopa and Pima counties. Given Maricopa was one of three
counties in 2017 that accounted for more than 30% of death sentences across the
US, hopefully
this downturn is a sign of things to come. (Source: ABC15 Arizona)
Lindesay Mace
