Judge to hold hearing in suit over inmate care in Arizona

It will mark the case’s first hearing since Corrections Director Charles Ryan was held in contempt of court for failing to make many of the improvements. (Shutterstock)

PHOENIX — A judge presiding in a settlement over health care in Arizona’s prisons will hold a hearing Thursday after previously raising the possibility of throwing out the agreement over what she said was the state’s pervasive noncompliance with the deal.

The agenda for the hearing is unknown.

It will mark the case’s first hearing since Corrections Director Charles Ryan was held in contempt of court for failing to make many of the improvements.

The suit alleged that some inmates in Arizona’s 10 state-run prisons complained that their cancer went undetected or that they were told to pray to be cured.

Judge Roslyn Silver says the state’s insistence on defending its noncompliance is ill-advised.

State lawyers haven’t yet said whether they will continue with the settlement or resume litigation.