Ruiz v. Estelle, H-78-987-CA.

Citation553 F. Supp. 567
Decision Date17 November 1982
Docket NumberNo. H-78-987-CA.,H-78-987-CA.
PartiesDavid RUIZ, et al., Plaintiffs, United States of America, Plaintiff-Intervenor, v. W.J. ESTELLE, et al., Defendants.
CourtU.S. District Court — Southern District of Texas

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

William Bennett Turner, San Francisco, Cal., Steven L. Winter, New York City, for plaintiffs.

David J.W. Vanderhoof, Sp. Litigation Section, Dept. of Justice, Washington, D.C., for plaintiff-intervenor.

Mark White, Atty. Gen. of Tex., Austin, Tex., Brian S. Greig, William R. Pakalka, Sp. Asst. Attys. Gen., Houston, Tex., for defendants.

ORDER
I.

JUSTICE, Chief Judge.

The above-styled civil action was instituted a decade ago, in 1972, by David Ruiz and other inmates of the Texas Department of Corrections (TDC), who sought equitable relief from allegedly unconstitutional conditions prevailing in TDC. After more than six years of discovery, hearings, and pre-trial proceedings, trial commenced on October 2, 1978. After 159 days of trial, including one significant delay, the parties rested on September 20, 1979.1

On December 12, 1980, a memorandum opinion was entered, which found widespread constitutional violations in the manner that various prison units of TDC were maintained and operated. Ruiz v. Estelle, 503 F.Supp. 1265 (S.D.Tex.1980) (hereinafter cited by volume and page number only). The memorandum opinion set forth, in considerable detail, the factual and legal analyses upon which the conclusions of unconstitutionality were based. Additionally, it indicated generally the nature of the injunctive relief being considered, and gave the parties an opportunity to agree on a proposed judgment. On March 3, 1981, the court approved a consent decree, submitted jointly by the parties, which resolved a number of the substantive issues upon which plaintiffs had prevailed at trial.2

On April 20, 1981, a decree granting injunctive relief and declaratory judgment was entered concerning the issues not resolved by the first consent decree.3 The decree found specific, inherent equitable power to remedy the unconstitutional conditions found to be prevailing in TDC. Defendants appealed from this order. During the pendency of appeal, the parties agreed to a second consent decree, which modified two central portions of the injunctive decree and which, on the bases of such alterations, finally resolved the two issues. Pursuant to Rule 42(b), F.R.App.P., defendants moved for voluntary dismissal of their appeal of those provisions of the injunctive order which were superseded by the second consent decree.4 The remainder of the injunctive order, and also defendants' appeal therefrom, were unaffected by the second consent decree.

Defendants did not appeal from Section X of the injunctive decree. Ruiz, 679 F.2d 1115, 1164 (5th Cir.1982). That portion provides:

The class plaintiffs are entitled to recover from defendants their counsel's reasonable fees and costs, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1988. Plaintiffs' counsel and defendants' counsel are directed to endeavor to agree on the amount thereof. If they are unable to agree, plaintiffs may submit an appropriate motion to the court, and the court will fix the amount of fees and costs. Plaintiffs may file later applications for services rendered by their counsel in implementing the relief specified in this decree and the consent decree agreed to by the parties, and for further services in this action.

See Ruiz, 666 F.2d at 855, 873 (5th Cir.1982). Despite apparent willingness on the part of plaintiffs' counsel to enter into discussion concerning a "reasonable" attorneys' fee, the parties have been unable to reach an agreement on this matter.5 Accordingly, as provided in Section X of the injunctive decree, plaintiffs submitted a motion for attorneys' fees, pursuant to the Civil Rights Attorney's Fees Award Act of 1976, 42 U.S.C. § 1988.5a

At the time the motion was submitted, defendants' appeal was pending before the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Though defendants did not appeal from Section X, they did challenge on appeal the factual and legal conclusions of the injunctive decree. Plaintiffs' entitlement to attorneys' fees under § 1988, as set forth in Section X, was predicated on their having prevailed, at trial, on the claims set forth in their complaint concerning the unconstitutionality of conditions at TDC. As set forth in the memorandum opinion of December 12, 1980, and the accompanying injunctive decree of May 11, 1981, plaintiffs there prevailed on every substantial issue presented at trial. A large portion of the equitable relief secured by the plaintiff class was embodied in consent decrees, and could not be disturbed on appeal. Nonetheless, it was taken into account that, were the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to reverse the findings of fact and conclusions of law relating to the basic unconstitutionality of conditions in the prisons of TDC, plaintiffs' right to recovery of fees and costs could be compromised. See Laje v. R.E. Thomason General Hospital, 665 F.2d 724, 730 (5th Cir.1980). In view of this uncertainty, the motion for attorney's fees was held in abeyance, pending resolution of defendants' appeal.

II.

On June 23, 1982, the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, issued its opinion in this action. Ruiz v. Estelle, 679 F.2d 1115 (5th Cir.1982) (cited hereinafter as Ruiz, 679 F.2d at 1126). Because plaintiffs' entitlement to fees and costs, and also the extent of such recovery, is directly implicated in the decision of this action on appeal, the content of the lengthy and complex opinion of the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit will be set forth in some detail. (The effect of the various provisions of the appellate decision on the amount of recovery will be analyzed separately.)

In its opinion, the Court of Appeals "affirmed the district court's finding that TDC imposed cruel and unusual punishment on inmates in its custody as a result of the totality of conditions in its prisons." Ruiz, 679 F.2d at 1126. It "also affirmed the district court's finding that some of TDC's practices deny inmates due process of law." Id. Finally, the court "affirmed the conclusion that remedial measures are necessary." Id.6 Thus, the Court of Appeals' decision denoted the plaintiffs' success on their central claims that the conditions prevailing in the various units of the Texas Department of Corrections deprived inmates of rights secured to them by the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution.

The remainder of the appellate decision is devoted to a lengthy and detailed assessment of whether specific injunctive measures ordered in the equitable decree of May 1, 1981, were necessary to ameliorate the unconstitutional conditions of confinement in TDC. In the course of this complicated evaluation, the court affirmed a number of provisions of the injunctive order, 679 F.2d at 1164, concluding that these provisions were properly within the scope of the district court's power to remedy unconstitutional conditions. E.g., 679 F.2d at 1148 (affirming dormitory space requirements); p. 1152 (affirming administrative segregation exercise requirement); pp. 1155-1156 (requiring taping of disciplinary proceedings); pp. 1153-1155 (access to courts requirements). See also, 679 F.2d 1155, n. 204, and cases cited therein.

On other matters, the Court of Appeals "concluded that some of the remedial measures ordered are not demonstrably required to protect constitutional rights and intrude unduly on matters of state concern." 679 F.2d at 1126. On the basis of this conclusion, the court "narrowed the scope of relief ordered." Id. The major portion of this tailoring is governed by a self-described "wait and see approach." For example, with respect to the various measures ordered to ease the chronic overcrowding of TDC units, the Court of Appeals noted:

It has not been demonstrated that provision of additional security guards and other measures required by the district court decree and the two consent decrees will not remedy the constitutional deficiency. It appears desirable, therefore, first to undertake measures that will not be both costly and irreversible. If these measures do not work then additional ones may be necessary. This "wait and see" approach ensures that the intrusion into state processes will be no greater than that required to achieve compliance with the Constitution.

Id. at 1148. See also 1148-1149 (staff training). The practical effect of this "wait and see" approach is to vacate, without prejudice, certain provisions of the injunctive decree. See 679 F.2d at 1164. The Court of Appeals has, then, explicitly affirmed that the conditions of confinement are violative of the Constitution. Additionally, it has approved the requirement that TDC take certain specific measures to remedy those conditions. If, after implementation of those approved remedies, the conditions of confinement remain in violation of the constitutional standards for confinement of inmates, plaintiffs may seek further relief, either in the form contained in the sections vacated without prejudice or in some alternative manner.

Finally, the Court of Appeals vacated a number of specific provisions of the injunctive decree. Id. at 1165. The basis for the vacation of these provisions was, generally, that the specific measures ordered unduly intruded on matters properly within the province of the state's prison administrators. Also, the court concluded that the district court had improperly resolved certain substantive matters, on the bases of state law claims which were not before it, because neither the plaintiffs nor the plaintiff-intervenor had included pendent state law claims in their complaints. Id. at 1156-1159.

As the foregoing discussion makes clear, the opinion of the Court of Appeals is intricate and not easily summarized. However, it may safely be said that the major portion of the decision is...

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