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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AZ Prison Watch BLOG POSTS:


Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Too many deaths in custody: Eyman homicide, and more.


Deaths in Custody Names Project
Resistance Alley, Phoenix.
May 30, 2011.



Look at how young all these guys are; I hope these don't turn out to be more suicides, too. My apologies to the families of these prisoners for the flippant tone of the following article; the writer is a careless jerk, for the most part. I'm sad to say that I'll be adding at least one of these names to the memorials I create as it is.

Our condolences to you all.

Please feel free to contact me at prisonabolitionist@gmail.com or 480-580-6807 if there's any way I can help. And please, please sue these people if there is cause - as in the homicide. The most fortified police institution in the state - charged with nothing less than protecting us from criminals - should be able to keep our prisoners safe from the real predators inside its walls - and help the vulnerable ones cope better with their own terror and despair.



- Peggy Plews


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Four Arizona Prison Inmates Die in Four Days; One Suspected to Be Homicide

By James King, Wed.

From Phoenix New Times
Jun. 1 2011 at 2:55 PM

Emergency medical responders at Arizona prisons have had a busy week -- four inmates have died while in Arizona Department of Corrections custody in four days.

One of the deaths, DOC spokesman Barrett Marson tells New Times, is a suspected homicide.

Marson says the other three deaths are currently under investigation, but foul play is unlikely.

The first criminal to kick the bucket this week is 36-year-old Gilberto Lopez. Serving five years for escape, Lopez was found unresponsive in his cell at the Arizona State Prison Complex-Lewis Saturday night.

Inmate number two: 28-year-old Luis Moscoso-Hernandez. Doing a 27-year bid for second-degree murder and kidnapping, Moscoso-Hernandez was also found unresponsive in his cell at the ASPC-Eyman facility.

The third inmate to bite the dust in the past week is 31-year-old Christopher Rankhorn, who was serving a 6.5-year sentence for theft of means of transportation. Like the others, Rankhorn was found unresponsive in his cell, his at the ASPC-Tucson facility yesterday.

Also found dead yesterday was 25-year-old Jeremy Pompeneo. His death, DOC officials say, was an apparent homicide. Pompeno, a lifer who earned his time with a first-degree murder conviction, was found in his housing unit yesterday at the ASPC-Eyman.

All of the deaths, Marson reiterates, are under investigation.

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