Trump haboob obscured firestorm over prison riot

Gov. Doug Ducey owes Donald Trump a huge thank-you.

"The Donald" blew into town like a haboob – exactly like a haboob – all bluster and dust and with the ability obscure our view to the point we couldn't see clearly. But now that Trump has left the building Arizona can get back to its regularly scheduled chaos.

For instance, figuring out the cause of the prison riots at the privately-run Arizona State Prison-Kingman.

That would have been the biggest story of last week had it not been for Trump. It's a story with the potential to cost Arizona taxpayers millions of dollars. Ducey promised a thorough investigation into the prison riots, saying the public "needs to know the facts." But he plans to allow the state Department of Corrections to investigate itself.

How much faith should Arizona taxpayers have in that?

"The Department of Corrections knows how to control an investigation like that in a way that will prevent taxpayers from getting all the facts they deserve to get," said Donna Leone Hamm, Executive Director of Middle Ground Prison Reform. "We need the kind of investigation that will give us all the facts. What the conditions were that led to the unrest. How such a thing could have been prevented. A true, independent evaluation. We won't get that from DOC."

All of this is happening at a time when the state is preparing to take applications to outsource 1,000 more medium-security beds this fiscal year. That process begins next week.

"We have an opportunity here to slow down for a second, pump the brakes, and really take a look at what we have in corrections in Arizona," said Caroline Isaacs, program director for the American Friends Service Committee office in Tucson.

The Legislature has been throwing taxpayer money at private prison operators, and has structured the law to protect the big corporations who run the prison from public scrutiny.

In 2012 lawmakers nixed the law requiring DOC to do a cost comparison between public and private prisons. Probably because previous comparisons showed that private prisons were more expensive to run, even though private prisons are required only to accept mentally and physically healthy inmates, and only those who are considered minimum or medium security risks. When asked about the possibility of authorizing an independent investigation into the Kingman riot, Ducey's spokesman said the governor is "confident (DOC) Director Ryan will provide a thorough and impartial review."

Given what we know about private prisons there's no reason to believe that. Of course, some say state-run prisons also have issues. And it's true.

"The state prison system is a mess, for sure," Isaacs said, "but you can't fix that by subcontracting it out to even less accountable businesses. We need even more accountability. More transparency. Not less. And in the meantime do not award another contract until we know what is going on."

Or Ducey can lie low and wait for the next political blowhard to hit town.