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AZ to become the latest state to move away from automatic isolation for death row inmates
Arizona death row inmate Scott Nordstrom lives alone in a room smaller than a parking space. He’s allowed to leave his cell a few times each week to shower or exercise alone in a similarly-sized mesh cage and is forbidden from making physical contact with visitors from the outside.
But that is set to change this month as the Arizona Department of Corrections is expected to announce a major shift in housing for the state’s 118 condemned inmates. Under current policy, death row inmates are automatically and indefinitely placed in solitary confinement until their execution dates, regardless of their behavior or risk to others. Soon, inmates with clear disciplinary records — including Nordstrom — will be moved to an area that allows for more out-of-cell time, visits in the same room with family and friends, outdoor group recreation and better job opportunities, according to a recent court settlement.
In 2015, Nordstrom, who was sentenced to death in 1998 for his role in six fatal shootings connected to a pair of robberies in Tucson, filed a federal lawsuit claiming that Arizona’s death row conditions violated his constitutional rights. The state settled the suit in March and was given 120 days to institute a new policy, although no changes have been announced to date. Arizona corrections officials did not respond to requests for comment.
Arizona will become the latest of several states to lift restrictions on death row inmates. In recent years, California, Colorado, Louisiana, Nevada, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia have allowed condemned inmates to have more time out of their cells, and in some cases, eat meals and exercise with other inmates and hold jobs.Still, the mandatory use of prolonged isolation for death row inmates is widespread in the U.S. Of the nation’s 2,900 condemned inmates, 70 percent are automatically held alone in cells for more than 20 hours per day, according to a Marshall Project survey of state corrections officials. Sixty-five percent are held alone for more than 22 hours a day.
https://www.themarshallproject.org/2017/07/23/condemned-to-death-and-solitary-confinementBut that is set to change this month as the Arizona Department of Corrections is expected to announce a major shift in housing for the state’s 118 condemned inmates. Under current policy, death row inmates are automatically and indefinitely placed in solitary confinement until their execution dates, regardless of their behavior or risk to others. Soon, inmates with clear disciplinary records — including Nordstrom — will be moved to an area that allows for more out-of-cell time, visits in the same room with family and friends, outdoor group recreation and better job opportunities, according to a recent court settlement.
In 2015, Nordstrom, who was sentenced to death in 1998 for his role in six fatal shootings connected to a pair of robberies in Tucson, filed a federal lawsuit claiming that Arizona’s death row conditions violated his constitutional rights. The state settled the suit in March and was given 120 days to institute a new policy, although no changes have been announced to date. Arizona corrections officials did not respond to requests for comment.
Arizona will become the latest of several states to lift restrictions on death row inmates. In recent years, California, Colorado, Louisiana, Nevada, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia have allowed condemned inmates to have more time out of their cells, and in some cases, eat meals and exercise with other inmates and hold jobs.Still, the mandatory use of prolonged isolation for death row inmates is widespread in the U.S. Of the nation’s 2,900 condemned inmates, 70 percent are automatically held alone in cells for more than 20 hours per day, according to a Marshall Project survey of state corrections officials. Sixty-five percent are held alone for more than 22 hours a day.