Don't let Marcia Powell die in vain

Perhaps the worst aspect of the controversy surrounding the death of Marcia Powell, the state prison inmate who died after being left out in 107-degree heat, is that it impedes an important Arizona Department of Corrections investigation into exactly how long people can survive in the outdoor holding cells.

According to the Republic this a.m., the state will now limit use of the cells to two hours. But, after months of Sturm und Drang about Powell’s death from rabble-rousers at the New Times and elsewhere—and with only a few more weeks of 100-degree-plus heat in front of us—one can worry whether department officials will be cowed into abandoning this crucial work until next spring.

Powell was left in a chain-link outdoor cell without a roof and apparently without water. She was mortally injured in less than four hours! The state now knows the life-expectancy of a mentally disturbed middle-aged prostitute in the cells.

We also have some immensely valuable data about the process. Powell’s skin blistered, and her internal body temperature reached 108 degrees. The value of this research is uniformly left unmentioned in the coverage of Powell’s death.

Now, on paper at least, the department can still house inmates in the cells for two hours, and with 103 on the forecast for this weekend, it might get some valuable data. If the prisoners survive, with luck the department may be able to squeeze in some testing in the three-hour range, assuming temperatures hold a bit more before the definitive arrival of fall.

Chances of further tests in the 3.5-hour area seem remote at this point. Hopes that the department could do comprehensive testing of the survivability rates of non-mentally disturbed people, the obese, diabetics, the elderly, and juvenile offenders now seem a pipe dream.

But even one or two more rounds of testing seem a best-case scenario. Right now, prisoner’s rights advocates are clamoring; officials are playing the blame game and disciplining corrections officers; and some radicals are even calling for criminal punishment.

In this climate, there’s a good chance that dedicated workers, fearing a witch hunt, will abandon their research.

PHXated hopes the department will focus on its mission, and continue to make use of the holding cells. Otherwise, Marcia Powell can truly be said to have died in vain.