27-year-old Robert Daniels is being held against his will in a Phoenix hospital ward reserved for sick prisoners. If state officials have their way, he could be there for the rest of his life. Daniels is suffering from a deadly strain of tuberculosis known as XDR-TB. Doctors say he is virtually untreatable. He has been forced to live in a hospital cell in complete isolation. [includes rush transcript]

Daniels contracted the disease while living in Russia. He returned to the United States last year and agreed to a voluntary quarantine in residential care. But Daniels violated his agreement when he went outside without a mask. Daniels says he misunderstood how much of a health risk he posed, in part because he hadn't been forced to wear a mask in Russia.

Today, Daniels has been forced to live in a hospital cell in complete isolation. His only visitors are medical staff. Sheriff's deputies have taken away his television, radio, phone and computer. He is under 24-hour surveillance and the light in his room is never turned off, even at night. His only contact to the outside world is a pay-phone. Daniels recently described his ordeal in a phone interview with the Arizona radio station KJZZ.

• Robert Daniels, speaking from detention in Arizona. Courtesy of KJZZ.
  Listen to KJZZ's full report.

On Wednesday, Democracy Now! spoke to a former worker at the Maricopa County Medical Center who has kept in touch with Daniels. She spoke to us on condition that she not be identified and that we disguise her voice.

• Former worker at Maricopa County Medical Center

Democracy Now! also spoke with Daniels' wife, Alla Danielova. She lives in Moscow with their son, five year-old Dmitry. Alla has not seen her husband in over a year.

• Alla Danielova, wife of Robert Daniels speaking from Moscow.

Daniels' harsh incarceration has sparked a controversial debate over whether Arizona officials have gone too far in the name of public safety.

We speak with three guests:

• Dan Pochoda, legal director for the ACLU in Arizona.
• Lawrence Gostin, Director of the Center for Law & the Public's Health at Johns Hopkins and Georgetown Universities.
• George Annas, professor of Health Law at the Boston University School of Public Health