PHOENIX — In Maine, state prison inmates are referred to as residents and solitary confinement was replaced by restrictive housing, which still allows inmates to leave their cells four to seven hours each day.
Residents can also exercise and have access to a computer tablet, phone, and television.
It's part of Maine's Department of Corrections' re-imagining of incarceration. Dr. Ryan Thornell, the Deputy Commissioner of Corrections for the state of Maine, helped develop and oversee it.
Now, Thornell has been chosen to lead Arizona's Department of Corrections.
In a statement announcing Dr. Thornell's appointment, Governor Hobbs said, " Dr. Thornell has led significant initiatives that re-envision traditional policies and approaches to incarceration, reforming a wide variety of adult corrections areas, challenging the status quo and implementing 21st century, normalized corrections practices."
Carlos Garcia spent 20 years working inside Arizona's prisons as a corrections officer. Now he leads the 1,400-member Arizona Corrections Peace Officer Association.
Garcia opposes Governor Hobbs' choice saying, "It's comparing day to night. This guy is walking in and I hope they gave him a heads up to say, 'you are walking into post-World War II Berlin, okay.'"
Garcia knows better than anyone the enormous challenges Dr. Thornell inherits.
From infrastructure and security failures, like broken locks on jail cell doors first reported by ABC15 Investigator Dave Biscobing, to a recent federal court decision finding Arizona's prison healthcare system and conditions for confinement unconstitutional.
"We are talking about Arizona. We have over 30,000 inmates. We have over nine security threat groups and gang violence. They don't have these problems over there," Garcia said.
Garcia believes it will take someone with experience in Arizona's corrections system to reform it. But in announcing Dr. Thornell, Governor Hobbs said she is confident he has the wherewithal to take on the challenges and opportunities.
