Ruiz v. Estelle

Decision Date26 June 1981
Docket NumberNo. 81-2224,81-2224
PartiesDavid R. RUIZ, et al., Plaintiffs-Appellees, United States of America, Intervenor-Appellee, v. W. J. ESTELLE, Jr., et al., Defendants-Appellants. . Unit A
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

Ed Idar, Jr., Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen., Austin, Tex., for defendants-appellants.

William Bennett Turner, San Francisco, Cal., for Ruiz, et al.

Jim D. Wiginton, Angleton, Tex., for L. D. Hillard.

Dennis J. Dimsey, Atty., Sp. Lit. Sect., Civil Rights Div., Dept. of Justice, Washington, D.C., for plaintiffs-appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas.

Before CHARLES CLARK, REAVLEY and WILLIAMS, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM:

The State of Texas seeks to stay portions of an injunction that imposes sweeping and exacting changes upon the State's prison system and its operation.

An overview of the injunctive relief that was granted by the district court in this case is contained in its memorandum opinion. See Ruiz v. Estelle, 503 F.Supp. 1265, 1385-1390 (S.D.Tex.1980). Essentially, the district court's injunction, entered on April 20 and amended on May 1, 1981, obligates the Texas Department of Corrections (TDC) to, inter alia, reduce the inmate population in each prison unit to alleviate overcrowding, increase the security guard and support staff, furnish adequate medical and psychological care, and bring all living and working environments into compliance with state health and safety standards. The district court's order is not a preliminary injunction; it decrees a reorganization of the State's entire prison system. Construction of future prison units and modification of present units are required by the court's order. Moreover, the provisions of the district court's order regarding staffing and internal operations must be effected immediately or steps taken immediately toward the district court's various deadlines.

It is not the assignment of this Court at this time to decide either the advisability or even the constitutionality of the changes which the district court has decreed. It will never be the responsibility of this or any other federal court to decide what a good prison should be or how it ought to be operated. That is for the corrections experts and the policy making officers of the states. The federal courts may interfere only to protect prisoners against cruel and unusual treatment, because that is prohibited by the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution. Furthermore, the present appeal has not reached a disposition on the merits, which will require a decision upon the question of what the Constitution does require in the present case. The record is not before us; arguments of the parties have not been presented. What is before us now is only the motion of the State for emergency relief during the weeks or months ahead while the appeal is being completed and decided.

I.

The portions of the district court's order which the State of Texas seeks to stay are as follows:

A. Overcrowding

1. Maximum Population: 11-1-82.

With respect to the maximum prisoner population, the district court's order requires that by November 1, 1982, TDC must reduce its overall inmate population to a figure equal to 1.5 times the number of general population cells, plus the number of inmates who can be housed in dormitories that afford 60 square feet (excluding bathing, toilet and activity areas) per prisoner. TDC may not thereafter, until further order of the court, accept any prisoner whose confinement would cause the inmate population to exceed that figure.

2. Maximum Population: 11-1-83.

By November 1, 1983, TDC must reduce its overall inmate population to a number equal the number of general population cells, plus the number of inmates who can be housed in dormitories that afford 60 square feet (excluding bathing, toilet and activity areas) per prisoner. TDC is precluded from accepting any inmate after that date whose confinement would cause the general population to exceed that figure.

3. Triple-celling.

After August 1, 1981, TDC may not confine any inmate with more than one other prisoner in any cell. Until triple-celling has been eliminated, no inmate may be confined in any cell with more than one other inmate for more than 10 days during any 30 day period. The State seeks to stay only this last part of the order dealing with prisoner rotation.

4. Double-celling.

By August 1, 1982, no more than 50% of the inmate population housed in cells may be assigned to cells of 60 square feet or less holding two prisoners. By August 1, 1983, no inmate may be assigned with another prisoner to a cell containing 60 square feet or less. 1

5. Dormitory Space.

With respect to inmates housed in dormitories, by November 1, 1981, TDC may not confine any inmate to a dormitory providing less than 40 square feet per prisoner. By November 1, 1982, TDC may not confine any inmate to a dormitory providing less than 60 square feet per prisoner. (The permissible square footage in dormitories excludes areas used for bathing, toilet or recreation activities, generally known as the "day room.")

6. Work Furlough.

As a measure to alleviate the overcrowding in the various facilities, TDC is required to make maximum use of its authority under Tex.Rev.Civ.Stat.Ann. art. 6166x-3 (Vernon Supp.1980-81) to house inmates outside of TDC units on the work furlough program authorized by the statute. Specifically, the court's order requires that by November 1, 1981, TDC shall have at least 300 inmates on work furlough; by May 1, 1982, TDC must have at least 1,200 inmates on work furlough; and by November 1, 1982, and thereafter until further ordered by the district court, TDC must have at all times at least 2,500 inmates on work furlough.

7. Temporary Furlough.

TDC must expand its temporary inmate furlough program as authorized by Tex.Rev.Civ.Stat.Ann. art. 6184n, § 2 (Vernon Supp.1980-81). Specifically, by November 1, 1981, TDC must have at least 300 inmates on this furlough program; by May 1, 1982, TDC must have at least 600 inmates on furlough; and by November 1, 1982, and thereafter until further order of the district court, TDC must have at all times at least 1,000 inmates on this furlough program.

8. Review of Good Time Credits.

By November 1, 1981, TDC must review the record of every inmate not having credit for State Approved Trusty III good time for the entire period he has been confined in TDC and then consider whether the inmate should have been credited with additional good time.

9. Expanding Community Corrections.

TDC must expand its role in community corrections and establish minimum security institutions, honor farms, halfway houses, urban work or educational release centers, community treatment centers, and the like. These facilities must be located in areas near population centers of sufficient size to provide services. By November 1, 1981, TDC must furnish the court with a plan for the establishment of such facilities with or without the participation of other state or local agencies.

B. New Facilities

1. Construction of New Units.

The injunction requires that TDC not make a final selection of a site, nor undertake the construction of any new units, for housing of inmates unless it has filed a report with the court demonstrating that the following conditions are met:

(a) The population of a TDC unit may not exceed 500 inmates, or the unit must be so structured that the population of each organizational sub-unit within the unit may not exceed 500 inmates.

(b) A new TDC unit may not be located more than 50 miles from a Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area (SMSA) with a population exceeding 200,000 persons, unless TDC submits a report showing that it is able to recruit and maintain adequate numbers of qualified professionals, paraprofessionals, and others in all disciplines necessary to the effective functioning of a correctional unit in a constitutional manner.

(c) All inmates classified as maximum security prisoners must be confined to single cells of at least 60 square feet.

(d) All inmates classified as minimum security prisoners must be confined to single cells of at least 60 square feet or in dormitories providing at least 60 square feet per inmate, excluding bathing, toilet, and recreation ("day room") areas.

2. Beto and Grimes County Units.

By August 1, 1981, TDC must file a report with the court providing the information required above for the Beto Unit (now under construction) and the proposed Grimes County Unit.

3. New Facilities at Existing Units.

TDC is prohibited from undertaking construction of any new facilities or cell blocks for the housing of inmates at existing correctional units unless it has filed a report demonstrating that these conditions are met:

(a) All inmates classified as maximum security prisoners must be confined to single cells of at least 60 square feet.

(b) All inmates classified as minimum security prisoners may only be confined to single cells of at least 60 square feet or in dormitories providing at least 60 square feet per prisoner, excluding bathing, toilet, and recreation ("day room") areas.

(c) TDC is able to recruit and maintain adequate numbers of qualified professionals, paraprofessionals, and others in all disciplines necessary to the effective functioning of the entire unit in a constitutional manner.

C. Reorganization of TDC

The injunction requires that TDC submit to the court a plan providing for the reorganization and decentralization of the management of each TDC unit housing more than 500 inmates. Said plan must assure that TDC units are subdivided into sub-units of no more than 500 inmates, that the warden of any unit will be responsible for no more than 500 inmates, that each organizational component of a unit is administratively and programatically decentralized with its own manageable supervisory structure, and that architectural modifications...

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