PHOENIX (AP) — A federal judge has ordered a takeover of health care operations in Arizona’s prisons and will appoint an official to run the system after years of complaints about poor medical and mental health care.
The decision on Thursday by U.S. District Judge Roslyn Silver came after her 2022 verdict that concluded Arizona had violated prisoners’ rights by providing inadequate care that led to suffering and preventable deaths.
Silver wrote that the state hasn’t gotten a semblance of compliance with court-ordered changes and the Constitution after nearly 14 years of litigation, saying “this approach has not only failed completely, but, if continued, would be nothing short of judicial indulgence of deeply entrenched unconstitutional conduct."
The judge said prisoners still remain exposed to "an intolerable grave and immediate threat of continuing harm and suffering because the systemic deficiencies pervade the administration of health care.”
The Associated Press left a message for the corrections department after the order was issued. The state and attorneys representing prisoners have 60 days to submit a list of candidates to run health and mental health care operations in prisons.
“This decision means that an independent authority will be able to implement the systemic changes necessary to ensure that medical and mental health care meets constitutional standards," said David Fathi, one of the lawyers representing the prisoners. "This is a life-saving intervention, and it brings hope that the preventable suffering and deaths that have haunted Arizona’s prison system for over a decade can finally end.”
Lawyers for prisoners say Arizona has made few improvements since the verdict and asked the judge for the more drastic remedy of creating such a “receivership,” arguing system remains broken and prisoners who need care are still in danger.
For over a decade, state government has been dogged by criticism that its health care system for the 25,000 inmates in Arizona’s state-run prisons was run shoddily and callously.
The state had vowed to overhaul medical and mental health services for prisoners in a 2014 settlement, but was soon accused of failing to keep many of those promises. That led to $2.5 million in contempt of court fines against the state and, eventually, the revocation of the agreement by Silver, who explained that corrections officials had shown little interest in making the changes.
The judge then ruled against the state at a 2022 trial, issuing an injunction requiring corrections authorities to fix the constitutional violations.
While attorneys for prisoners say the state lacks the leadership to comply within a reasonable amount of time, the corrections department said it has transformed the prison health care system over the last two years, such as expanding access to treatments, increasing staff and opening medical housing units.
Corrections officials say the opposing side refuses to acknowledge their progress and “focus on the reputation and circumstances of the past rather than recognizing or even supporting the good work of the present.” Lawyers for the department say the agency’s leadership has been acting in good faith with the court’s orders.
In September 2019, lawyers representing the prisoners made a similar request for a takeover, but Silver shied away from it, saying she would revive that possibility if the state acts in bad faith or fails to comply with the court-ordered changes. Past receiverships have been ordered for prisons in other states. In California in 2005, a federal judge seized control of the prison medical system after finding that an average of one inmate a week was dying of medical neglect or malpractice.
The Arizona lawsuit does not cover the nearly 10,000 people incarcerated in private prisons for state convictions.
FILE - A sign points in the direction of the Arizona State Prison in Florence, Ariz., March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Darryl Webb, File)
MILAN (AP) — Alysa Liu had just delivered a near-flawless Olympic free skate on Thursday night, one that left a packed crowd inside the Milano Ice Skating Arena standing and roaring, when a television camera zoomed in on the American star as she was heading off the ice.
“That's what I'm f—————— talking about!” Liu shouted into the lens.
Oh, they'll be talking about her for quite a while.
The 20-year-old from the San Francisco Bay Area, who walked away from the sport before finding her way back again — and finding herself in the process — delivered the U.S. its first women's figure skating gold medal in 24 years. She finished with 226.79 points to upstage Japanese teammates Kaori Sakamoto and Ami Nakai, who took silver and bronze at the Milan Cortina Games.
“I think my story is more important than anything to me,” Liu said, her frenulum piercing glinting in the light as she smiled, “and that's what I will hold dear, and this journey has been incredible, and my life has just been — I have no complaints.”
The moment Nakai’s score was read after the final program of the night, U.S. teammate Amber Glenn jumped into the kiss-and-cry and raised Liu’s hand in triumph. Liu sheepishly turned and applauded the 17-year-old Nakai, who raced over and hugged her.
It was the first individual gold medal for an American woman since 2002, when Sarah Hughes stood atop the podium in Salt Lake City, and it was the second gold for Liu at the Milan Cortina Games. She and Glenn helped the Americans win team gold.
“Her story of taking a step back, mental health, I think it really attests to you never know what the journey to success is going to be,” said Glenn, who finished fifth. “I really hope that can reach the skating community, that it’s OK to take time.”
It was a bittersweet silver medal for Sakamoto, the three-time world champion, who intends to retire after this season. One of the most popular figure skaters of her generation earned a bronze medal four years ago in Beijing and had her heart set on gold.
“I'm really regretful,” said Sakamoto, who finished with 224.90 points. “I feel like I'm so disappointed, to be honest.”
Liu's latest gold medal, meanwhile, blended right into her glittering gold-sequined dress, only the blue ribbon standing out. And it seemed the perfect complement to the golden stripes running through her dark brown hair, which are meant to resemble the growth rings on a tree.
Liu has done a whole lot of growing up over the years.
She was the youngest U.S. champion ever when she won the first of back-to-back titles at 13 years old. But after finishing sixth at the Beijing Games, Liu was so burned out that she abruptly retired. She spent the next two years doing bucket-list things like climbing up to the base camp of Mount Everest and enrolling at UCLA, where she is studying psychology.
It was on a skiing trip a couple of years ago, when Liu felt the same familiar adrenaline rush she once felt while skating, that she began to think about a comeback. But this time, Liu would be skating on her terms, more carefree and self-assured than she'd been as a child prodigy, when her life revolved around the practice rink.
“I mean, it’s just how my life has gone,” Liu said, shrugging. “Everything in general has led me to this point.”
Even during warmups Thursday night, Liu skated with a grin on her face, never showing any outward signs of pressure. She took the time to wave at friends and family in the stands who had been keeping her out late for dinners, which she called “super fun.”
“What I was feeling,” Liu said, “was happy and confident.”
Glenn must have felt the same way a couple of hours earlier. She had to perform long before her friend and teammate following a disappointing short program two nights prior. But Glenn rebounded in spectacular fashion, and her season-best free skate not only gave her a score of 214.91 points but it nearly put her on the podium, too.
Glenn pumped her fist and fought back tears when her score was read, then she took a seat in the new “leader’s chair.”
“It was nice to watch some great figure skating up close,” Glenn said, “but it's also conflicting, because you want to stay there but you don't want to wish mistakes on anybody else.”
She wound up staying there for quite a while.
Adeliia Petrosian, an 18-year-old Russian competing as a neutral athlete, tried the only quadruple jump during the women’s competition but fell on the quad toe loop. She was clean the rest of the way, but the points Petrosian lost on that fall ended up leaving her less than a half-point behind Glenn sitting in the leader's chair.
“I feel a little ashamed,” Petrosian said, after taking a few minutes to compose herself, “for myself, for the federation, for my coaches and for the spectators that it went this way. I understand that it’s my own fault.”
It wasn't until Mone Chiba — the ninth skater to follow Glenn to the ice — that the three-time U.S. champ was bumped from her spot.
Chiba's stint in the leader's chair didn't last nearly as long.
Liu, who last year captured the first world title by an American woman since 2006, was perfect from her opening triple flip to her closing combination sequence. As the last bits of Donna Summer's version of “MacArthur Park” faded away, and the roar of the fans filled the void, Liu gave a casual flip of her ponytail as if to say, “So what?”
Her coaches, Phillip DiGuglielmo and Massimo Scali, were a little more rambunctious. They punched the air, gave each other a big hug, then headed over to greet their star pupil when she stepped off the ice to await her score.
The score that ultimately would give her an Olympic title and end a long drought for U.S. women.
“I don't need this,” Liu said of the gold medal hanging around her neck, “but what I needed was the stage, and I got that. So it was all good, no matter what happened. I mean, if I fell on every jump, I would still be wearing this dress. So it's all good.”
AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
From left to right, silver medalist Kaori Sakamoto of Japan, gold medalist Alysa Liu of the United States, and bronze medalist Ami Nakai of Japan, jump on the podium to receive their medals after competing in the women's free skate program in figure skating at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Gold medalist Alysa Liu of the United States displays her medal after competing in the women's free skate program in figure skating at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Ami Nakai of Japan competes during the women's figure skating free program at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
Kaori Sakamoto of Japan competes during the women's figure skating free program at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Alysa Liu of the United States competes during the women's figure skating free program at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
Alysa Liu of the United States competes during the women's figure skating free program at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
Alysa Liu of the United States competes during the women's figure skating free program at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Adeliia Petrosian of Individual Neutral Athletes competes during the women's short program figure skating at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Mone Chiba of Japan competes during the women's short program figure skating at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Kaori Sakamoto of Japan competes during the figure skating women's team event at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
Ami Nakai of Japan competes during the women's short program figure skating at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Alysa Liu of the United States competes during the women's short program figure skating at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
