Morales v. Turman

Citation364 F. Supp. 166
Decision Date31 August 1973
Docket NumberCiv. A. No. 1948.
PartiesAlicia MORALES et al. v. James TURMAN, Individually and in his official capacity as Executive Director of the Texas Youth Council, et al.
CourtU.S. District Court — Eastern District of Texas

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Peter Sandmann, Youth Law Center, San Francisco, Cal., Steven L. Bercu, Richardson, Tex., William P. Hoffman, Jr., Washington, D. C., for plaintiffs.

John L. Hill, Atty. Gen. of Tex., Austin, Tex., Robert Salter, Staff Atty., Gatesville, Tex., Larry York, Joe B. Dibrell, Jr., Max P. Flusche, Jr., and Thomas W. Choate, Asst. Attys. Gen., Austin, Tex., for defendants.

Louis M. Thrasher, Michael Lottman, William Malcolm Logan, Jr., Daniel E. Maeso, and Michelle White, Attys., Civil Rights Div., Dept. of Justice, Washington, D. C., for the United States, amicus curiae.

Larry A. Schwartz, Patricia Wald, Attys., Mental Health Law Project, Washington, D. C., for American Orthopsychiatric Assn., American Psychological Assn., and American Assn. on Mental Deficiency, amici curiae.

JUSTICE, District Judge.

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. Plaintiffs are minor children who represent a class consisting of all juveniles (hereinafter juveniles or TYC inmates) who are presently, have been in the past, or may be in the future adjudicated delinquent pursuant to Vernon's Tex.Rev.Civ.Stat.Ann. art. 2338-1, involuntarily committed to the custody of the Texas Youth Council (hereinafter the TYC), pursuant to Tex.Rev.Civ.Stat. Ann. art. 5143d, and assigned to one of the six schools under the jurisdiction of the TYC: Mountain View, Gatesville, Giddings, Gainesville, Crockett, and Brownwood. (The names of these schools correspond to the names of the Texas cities in which they are located, except for Mountain View, which is located near Gatesville, Texas.)

2. Defendants are Dr. James A. Turman, Executive Director of the TYC, members of the TYC appointed by the Governor with the consent of the Senate, and various employees of the TYC responsible for the supervision of the above-described schools (hereinafter TYC personnel).

3. The Mountain View State School for Boys is a maximum security facility operated by the TYC. It is surrounded by two fences, both of which are topped with barbed wire. A juvenile may be initially assigned to Mountain View as a result of a staff determination that his pre-commitment conduct evinces dangerous propensities or he may be transferred there from one of the other TYC institutions for boys, usually Gatesville, as a result of a decision that his conduct is unsatisfactory. Thus, there are at least some boys incarcerated at Mountain View whose delinquent behavior consists of such "status" offenses as truancy, incorrigibility, or running away from home. There are also some boys at Mountain View who were transferred there from other schools for such essentially nonviolent, uncooperative behavior as swearing at correctional officers, refusing to work, or running away.

4. The decision whether to initially assign a boy to Mountain View or to transfer him to Mountain View from one of the other institutions for boys is made by a classification committee. Many of the persons on the committee have no knowledge of Mountain View, and no firm criteria exists to guide their decision. Time limitations make adequate psychiatric examination difficult, if not impossible; deliberations are carried on in the boys' absence; and boys are not informed of the committee's decision prior to the actual assignment or transfer.

5. Correctional officers at Mountain View presently administer, or have in the past administered, various forms of physical abuse, including slapping, punching, and kicking. One form of this physical abuse, referred to as "racking," consists of requiring the inmate to stand against the wall with his hands in his pockets while he is struck a number of times by blows from the fists of correctional officers. Other abuse consists of correctional officers administering blows to the face with both open and closed hands.

No testimony was adduced to justify this punishment on the grounds of protecting persons or property. Certain employees of the TYC have consistently engaged in this abuse of the juveniles in their care. As a result of these practices, the climate at Mountain View is one of repression and fear. The administrative staff of Mountain View and the central office of the TYC have been less than diligent in their efforts to eradicate these practices at Mountain View, with the result that inmates of Mountain View do not feel secure in reporting brutal conduct on the part of correctional officers to higher authorities.

6. Tear gas and similar chemical substances have been used by agents or employees of the defendants on Mountain View inmates in situations in which no riot or other disturbance was imminent. One inmate, for example, was tear-gassed while locked in his cell for failure to work; another was gassed for fleeing from a beating he was receiving; and another was gassed by a correctional officer supervisor while he was being held by two 200-pound correctional officers.

7. Mountain View's history, well-known to the inmates of both Mountain View and Gatesville, has been one of brutality and repression. Its reputation has in no small part been a function of ineffective leadership and a staff unqualified by education, experience, or personality to effect the rehabilitation of delinquents. Mountain View cannot be operated as a minimally adequate facility without a competent and sensitive Superintendent.

8. Correctional officers at institutions other than Mountain View, primarily Gatesville, presently administer, or have in the past administered, various forms of physical abuse to TYC inmates, including slapping, punching, and kicking.

9. Complaints regarding physical abuse of TYC inmates at Mountain View and other institutions are supposed to be the subject of "incident reports," filed by all TYC inmates and personnel involved. Specific procedures vary from one institution to another, however, and falsification of reports by correctional officers particularly at Mountain View, and by inmates, under duress of the correctional officers, is widespread. Many correctional officers force an inmate to file a report that reflects that an injury was caused by a football game, for example, rather than by the use of force by the correctional officer. Moreover, many inmates testified to fear of reprisals by correctional officers for the truthful reporting of instances of physical abuse.

10. Some Mountain View inmates are segregated from the general population on the basis of purported homosexuality and race. Two dormitories, referred to by TYC inmates and personnel as "punk dorms," are set aside for the smaller boys and for those determined by the custodial staff, on the basis of nonclinical standards, to be homosexuals. One dormitory is for black inmates, and the other is for Anglo and Mexican-American inmates. Experts testifying for both the plaintiffs and the defendants and the various amici groups were unanimous in concluding that the permanent segregation of inmates on the basis of purported homosexuality was psychologically damaging. Some juveniles, however, have already been stigmatized and identified as purported homosexuals by being placed in one of the so-called "punk dorms." It is apparent that immediate and indiscriminate return of these juveniles to the general population would pose a danger to their safety.

11. The average length of stay for TYC inmates at Mountain View is approximately a year and a half, at least fifty percent longer than the average length of stay for inmates at either of the other boys' institutions.

12. Experts testifying for the plaintiffs, the various amici groups, and the defendants, except for certain TYC personnel, were unanimous in concluding that only a very small percentage of juveniles adjudged delinquent should be placed in a maximum security facility.

13. In order that the provisions of this order be understood and observed by all persons employed at Mountain View, which institution has the worst history of brutality and repression of any TYC facility, it is necessary that a person trusted by Mountain View inmates be appointed to serve as an Ombudsman to whom inmates and staff may go with grievances and to whom all meetings and records touching upon the operation of Mountain View or the assignment of juveniles to Mountain View are open. It is necessary that this Ombudsman be empowered to report directly to the court any violations of its order and to make recommendations to TYC concerning compliance with the order.

14. Mr. Charles Derrick, presently Chief of Casework Services at Mountain View, enjoys the confidence of both administration and inmates, as evidenced by the agreement of all the parties in this civil action that he serve during the course of litigation as an Ombudsman to protect the rights of juveniles who were witnesses in the case.

15. Juveniles at many or all of the TYC institutions are subject to placement in security facilities, variously called "Security Treatment Center," "Special Treatment Cottage," "STC," or similar designations. In at least some of the institutions, the infirmary is used occasionally as a security facility.

16. Juveniles are, or have been in the past, confined to security facilities for conduct that is not seriously disruptive of the institution's program and for conduct that poses no threat to the safety of any person or to the preservation of valuable property.

17. Most or all of these security facilities contain single rooms or cells in which juveniles are, or have been in the past, locked for periods of time as long as a month or more, with no opportunity to leave the cell except for daily bathing, hygiene, and eating. Many juveniles so confined have little or no contact with casework, medical, or psychological staff...

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