No Solitary
Confinement in Arizona Prison
When asked a question by a legislative panel member the
director of Arizona prisons commented that there are no solitary confinement
cells inside Arizona prisons. It was a response well expected and represents the
usual upside down like thinking and rhetoric of the Arizona Department of
Corrections.
The director did not have a choice in answering the question
in the content and context presented. After all, there is ongoing litigation
that will determine if solitary confinement conditions exist within the ADOC
and a premature self-admit would be detrimental to their defense. It would have
exposed the soft warm underbelly of the agency and its multiple fiascos and
critical problems to the press and other politicians counting on this man to
protect and serve their needs.
The director had no choice to not tell the truth as this was neither the
time or place to turn a bad situation into a pre-determined future “show and tell”
session inside a courtroom. He is a cold, unforgiving boss and he does know how
to play the game or better yet, the blame game.
It is unlikely the director will discuss some of the things
that have been revealed by internal investigations, lawsuits and other means
related to discovery and disclosure of public business. He has chosen to
protect those that have failed him and that is expected under the
circumstances. However, he is failing to
notice that he is being set up by the same bosses that have protected him as
they lead him to the ultimate sacrifice once the truth is revealed.
For sure, many things have gone south for him including the
control of general population yards to gangs, high deaths related to suicides
and homicides and other factors that I can’t recall from the top of my
head. By now frustration and enmity must
be starting to set in. The director must
be thinking of retirement and leaving as people are starting to wonder “what’s
going on here?”
In the meantime, the press is doing fact-checking and once
completed they will carry the message to the people to show what has been
hidden and what has been told. What follows is usually a legislative inquiry
with a series of questions tracing certain patterns that we ask ourselves every
day while this crisis is going on. Sadly, nobody is trying to figure out what
the problem is. I guess it’s only human for us to engage into this type of
dialogue when faced with problem solving in these political and social implications
and situations.
