Retiring Arizona Prison Watch...


This site was originally started in July 2009 as an independent endeavor to monitor conditions in Arizona's criminal justice system, as well as offer some critical analysis of the prison industrial complex from a prison abolitionist/anarchist's perspective. It was begun in the aftermath of the death of Marcia Powell, a 48 year old AZ state prisoner who was left in an outdoor cage in the desert sun for over four hours while on a 10-minute suicide watch. That was at ASPC-Perryville, in Goodyear, AZ, in May 2009.

Marcia, a seriously mentally ill woman with a meth habit sentenced to the minimum mandatory 27 months in prison for prostitution was already deemed by society as disposable. She was therefore easily ignored by numerous prison officers as she pleaded for water and relief from the sun for four hours. She was ultimately found collapsed in her own feces, with second degree burns on her body, her organs failing, and her body exceeding the 108 degrees the thermometer would record. 16 officers and staff were disciplined for her death, but no one was ever prosecuted for her homicide. Her story is here.

Marcia's death and this blog compelled me to work for the next 5 1/2 years to document and challenge the prison industrial complex in AZ, most specifically as manifested in the Arizona Department of Corrections. I corresponded with over 1,000 prisoners in that time, as well as many of their loved ones, offering all what resources I could find for fighting the AZ DOC themselves - most regarding their health or matters of personal safety.

I also began to work with the survivors of prison violence, as I often heard from the loved ones of the dead, and learned their stories. During that time I memorialized the Ghosts of Jan Brewer - state prisoners under her regime who were lost to neglect, suicide or violence - across the city's sidewalks in large chalk murals. Some of that art is here.

In November 2014 I left Phoenix abruptly to care for my family. By early 2015 I was no longer keeping up this blog site, save occasional posts about a young prisoner in solitary confinement in Arpaio's jail, Jessie B.

I'm deeply grateful to the prisoners who educated, confided in, and encouraged me throughout the years I did this work. My life has been made all the more rich and meaningful by their engagement.

I've linked to some posts about advocating for state prisoner health and safety to the right, as well as other resources for families and friends. If you are in need of additional assistance fighting the prison industrial complex in Arizona - or if you care to offer some aid to the cause - please contact the Phoenix Anarchist Black Cross at PO Box 7241 / Tempe, AZ 85281. collective@phoenixabc.org

until all are free -

MARGARET J PLEWS (June 1, 2015)
arizonaprisonwatch@gmail.com



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Friday, March 5, 2010

State Violence: Administrators of Power.

Considering how many unsolved homicides, rapes, and other violent crimes persist in Maricopa County, Thomas and Arpaio and Pearce should be ashamed of themselves for expending another breath on anti-immigrant legislation before they tell us how they plan to protect institutionalized people in this state from abuse and exploitation. There's no reason this should have been allowed to go on, except that - like prisoners, psychiatric patients are never believed when they complain about abuse anyway. 

I believe this man best fits the demographic of the most dangerous criminals we should be trying to protect our children from - instead of chasing migrants through the desert, we should be policing middle-aged white men for their propensity for pedophilia, which I understand is part of the profile...take a good look at those credentials. I bet up until this story broke, he was a well-respected law-abiding citizen - when in fact, there's indication he may have been a serial rapist/molester.


But, we should stop here. He's innocent until proven guilty. That gives us a little time to figure out what an abolitionist would do with a man like that - who would abuse such power with a child.


Anyway, here's the story. Boy am I glad I'm not living in California right now - Arizona's enough of a handful. Those guys in Cali are way out of control.

CA hospital head arrested for alleged molestation

Modified Wed, Feb 24, 2010 10:15 PM

The executive director of a Northern California mental hospital was arrested Wednesday for investigation of molesting his foster child for more than a decade.

Napa State Hospital Director Claude Edward Foulk, 62, was arrested at the hospital after a five-month investigation by Long Beach police.

The hospital fired him after he was charged Tuesday with 35 felony counts, punishable by up to 280 years in prison.

Foulk was booked into custody in Long Beach. Prosecutors asked that bail be set at $3.5 million, Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Lesley Klein said.

The investigation was started in September after a man now in his 40s came forward, Long Beach Police Sgt. Dina Zapalski said.

The crimes were "not work-related," Zapalski said.

Foulk is accused of sexually molesting the boy shortly after taking him in as a foster child at age 10 in 1992. The alleged crimes continued through 2004 after Foulk and the youth moved to Walnut, according to the district attorney's office.

Investigators were also looking into claims from four other alleged victims in Long Beach and Rancho Murietta in Northern California dating from 1975 to 2006, before Foulk began working at Napa State Hospital, Zapalski said.

Prosecutors said the statute of limitations could prevent them from pursuing some other alleged cases.
It could not be immediately determined if Foulk had an attorney.

Foulk was appointed director of Napa State Hospital in 2007. Hospital officials declined to comment.

"We did not know anything about this until Long Beach police came to the hospital and arrested him this morning," said Nancy Kincaid, spokeswoman for the California Department of Mental Health.

She noted the alleged incidents predated Foulk's arrival at Napa State Hospital.

"He was not in one-on-one contact with patients," Kincaid said. "He had no clinical hospital privileges, so he wouldn't have been offering treatment."

Dr. Stephen W. Mayberg, director of the state mental health department, said Foulk had been fired.

Napa State Hospital Administrator Dolly Matteucci is serving as acting executive director while the department searches for Foulk's replacement, Kincaid said.

At the time of Foulk's appointment to Napa State Hospital he was lauded for his lengthy career in mental health services in both the private and public sectors.

Prior to taking the position in Napa, Foulk worked for the state Department of Mental Health as the Chief of Program, Policy and Fiscal Support, the Long Beach Press-Telegram reported. Before that, he held positions as chief executive officer and chief operating officer of private community acute psychiatric hospitals, including CPC Horizon Hospital and Clinic in Pomona and CPC Alhambra Psychiatric Hospital in Rosemead, according to a Department of Mental Health news release.

Napa State Hospital is one of the largest state mental health facilities in the United States, with about 1,260 beds for patients. Many of the hospital's patients come from the criminal justice system - including those found not guilty by reason of insanity. No juveniles or child molesters are treated at Napa.
Associated Press Writers Denise Petski and Shaya Tayefe Mohajer in Los Angeles, Terence Chea in San Francisco and Donald Thompson in Sacramento contributed to this report.

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