A portion of a Consent Decree issued in 1973 by the United States District Court of Arizona directed that inmates in the custody of the Arizona Department of Corrections (ADOC) would be allowed to receive three, twenty-five pound food packages, each year during the December holiday season.

This Consent Decree was modified in November of 1997 by the United States District Court of Arizona under the direction of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, to include the following:

"eliminate the inmates' ability to receive holiday food packages"

and

"between December 10 and December 3 1 of each year, specialty food items shall be stocked in the inmate stores and the prisoners' weekly spending limit in the stores shall be increased to $100"

It is noted that the spending limit shall be adjusted annually to reflect inflation with respect to the cost of consumer goods. The non-holiday spending limit for food items is $40.00 per week.

At this time, the court also recognized that the original Consent Decree was entered into voluntarily by both parties (the Arizona Department of Corrections and Evan Arthur Hook, et al., Plaintiffs Petitioners) and therefore, a constitutional basis for the provision or its modification is not at issue.

In implementing this program, the ADOC has taken it upon itself to survey the inmate population with regard to the preference of food items to be sold in the stores, compile an after action report to ensure the program is operationally sound (indicating where adjustments may be needed), and to monitor sales activity which will aide to gauge the effectiveness of the program. The recent year's sales figures confirm an approximate 72% increase in sales during the holiday period as compared to a similar time period of nonholiday sales.

All indicators sustain that the Holiday Store Program has successfully transitioned the ADOC from the external receipt of food packages to an entirely internal procurement and distribution of holiday food items.

Updated on August 05, 1999