Arizona Ends Death-Row Solitary Confinement, Sees Reduced Prisoner Anxiety, Lowered Costs, and Increased Safety

Several months after Arizona set­tled a law­suit over the con­di­tions of con­fine­ment on the state’s death row, the state has end­ed the prac­tice of auto­mat­i­cal­ly hous­ing con­demned pris­on­ers in soli­tary con­fine­ment, and pris­on­ers and prison offi­cials alike are prais­ing the changes. Carson McWilliams (pic­tured), Division Director for Offender Operations in the Arizona Department of Corrections (ADC), told the Arizona Republic that the new incar­cer­a­tion con­di­tions pro­vide an ​“atmos­phere where [pris­on­ers] can social­ize,” result­ing in ​“reduce[d] anx­i­ety” that, in turn, ​“adds to safe­ty con­trol” of the prison. And, prison offi­cials say, it has reduced institutional costs. 

Prior to the law­suit, death row had meant 23-hour-per-day con­fine­ment in a con­crete cell the size of a park­ing space, shut­tered by a steel door with a per­fo­rat­ed slot through which the pris­on­ers would receive their meals, and with a bench bed and a sink attached to an uncov­ered toi­let. Prisoners had no con­tact vis­its with fam­i­lies or lawyers, were hand­cuffed behind the back and sub­ject­ed to body-cav­i­ty search­es when­ev­er they left their cells, and were restrict­ed to show­er­ing or exer­cis­ing three times a week. They also were denied prison jobs and educational opportunities. 

About the soli­tary con­di­tions, McWilliams remarked, ​“The more you’re restrict­ed inside a cell, the more like­ly you are to have depres­sion, to have anx­i­ety, to have oth­er types of men­tal prob­lems that could lead to some type of prob­lem inside the sys­tem, whether its self harm, or sui­cide, or aggres­sion towards a staff mem­ber or towards anoth­er inmate.” One death-row pris­on­er who was inter­viewed by the paper said, ​“It’s hard to explain the depri­va­tion.… It weighs on your mind.” 

McWilliams said it now requires few­er offi­cers to man­age death row because offi­cers no longer have to deliv­er indi­vid­ual meals or indi­vid­u­al­ly escort each of the 120 pris­on­ers. Kevin Curran, who has been a prison war­den at var­i­ous facil­i­ties run by the ADC, said that he ​“feels safer among the death-row men than among the career crim­i­nals and gang­sters in the general population.” 

Under the new con­di­tions, pris­on­ers are able to social­ize with each oth­er in activ­i­ties such as play­ing bas­ket­ball, vol­ley­ball, or board games, and can eat meals togeth­er. One ADC cor­rec­tions offi­cer told the Arizona Republic that he was ​“appre­hen­sive” at first about the changes, but the tran­si­tion has been ​“very good” with only a ​“few minor inci­dents,” which were ​“a lot less” than he expected.