Arizona prison health care trial begins In Phoenix

Arizona prison health care trial begins In Phoenix

Arizona prison health care trial begins In Phoenix

Kendall Johnson was a wholesome 19-calendar year-outdated who favored actively playing basketball when she entered the Perryville women’s jail in 2004. Now, at 37, she is confined to a wheelchair — a final result of many sclerosis that went undiagnosed and untreated for several years. Speaking by means of videoconference, Johnson testified in federal court docket Monday that she spends most of her time viewing Television and “counting the ceiling tiles” in a special requires professional medical device at Perryville.

“I’m pretty a great deal not allowed to go outdoors,” she informed the courtroom.

Johnson was the to start with of eight incarcerated witnesses scheduled to testify over the subsequent a few weeks in a trial that could effect the way Arizona administers well being treatment in point out prisons, Jensen v. Shinn.

U.S. District Court Judge Roslyn Silver is presiding about the trial just after rescinding a settlement agreement accepted more than 6 many years ago. The choose decided the Department of Corrections unsuccessful to stay up to self-imposed benchmarks proven to elevate the level of treatment in Arizona’s 10 condition-operate prisons.