Ruiz v. Estelle
Encyclopedia
Ruiz v. Estelle, 503 F. Supp. 1265 (S.D. Tex. 1980)
, filed in United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas
, eventually became the most far-reaching lawsuit
on the conditions of prison
incarceration in American history. It began as a civil action, a handwritten petition filed against the Texas Department of Corrections (TDC) in 1972 by inmate David Resendez Ruíz alleging that the conditions of his incarceration, such as overcrowding, lack of access to health care, and abusive security practices, were a violation of his constitutional rights. In 1974, the petition was joined by seven other inmates and became a class action suit known as Ruiz v. Estelle, 550 F.2d 238. The trial ended in 1979 with the ruling that the conditions of imprisonment within the TDC prison system constituted cruel and unusual punishment
in violation of the United States Constitution
, with the original report issued in 1980, a 118 page decision by Judge William Justice
(Ruiz v. Estelle, 503 F.Supp. 1295).
s, appeal
s and other legal actions, until a final judgment was rendered in 1992. But problems in enforcement continued, and in 1996 U.S. Congress enacted the Prison Litigation Reform Act
(PLRA) to address these issues as well as abuse of the prison litigation process.
However, in October 1997, the district court, still not satisfied with the compliance of the TDC, gave permission for continuing site visits by attorneys and experts for the inmate class, and this continued into 1999. In response to this, the TDC issued more than 450,000 pages of evidence and accepted 50 additional site visits. In 2001, the court found that the TDC was in compliance on the issue of use of force
against inmates and had adequate policies and procedures in place. However, the court continued to have issues with the "current and ongoing constitutional violations regarding administrative segregation [in] the conditions of confinement and the practice of using administrative segregation to house mentally ill inmates" that it found.
In 2007, in the consolidated case of Jones v. Bock
the U.S. Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, set forth limitations on the extent of prison litigation.
. Ruíz, a Mexican-American, was classified as White in the TDC records.
Ruíz, the son of migrant farmworkers and the youngest of 13 children, got into trouble with the law from an early age; as a child he was arrested for fighting and shoplifting. After an arrest for a car theft, 12-year old Ruíz received a sentence to serve time in Gatesville State School
in Gatesville
; he arrived for his first session in 1954.In Gatesville he socialized with "hard core" state school students from Austin and San Antonio
. Ruíz had four sessions in Gatesville. After Ruíz left Gatesville for the final time, he turned 17, which made him an adult in the Texas penal system.
After another car theft, he was sentenced to serve time in the Texas Department of Corrections (TDC). He initially was placed in Huntsville
; two weeks later he was assigned to the Ramsey Farm
in Brazoria County, Texas
, where he worked in fields. In Ramsey Ruíz attempted to kill an inmate that he believed was planning to have Ruíz killed; the stabbing injured but did not kill the prisoner. The prison authorities beat Ruíz as a punishment. During his confinement in Ramsey, Ruíz had also committed lesser infractions. His first adult sentence lasted seven years. After he left prison, Ruíz married a woman named Rose Marie and the two had a female child together.
Thirteen months after his release, on July 1968, Ruíz was again placed in the custody of the TDC; he said that he had "picked up the gun" because he had no education or trade skills to support himself and his family. He was then assigned to the Eastham Unit
in Houston County
, where he continued to work in fields. While at Eastham Ruíz participated in a failed escape attempt. The warden of Eastham and George Beto
, the TDC director, escorted Ruíz back to prison. After a week in the infirmary, Ruíz was placed in solitary confinement for 45 days; there he decided to become a prison activist. After Ruíz left solitary confinement, he refused to work in the fields any longer and cut his achilles tendon with a razor. Because of the self-inflicted injuries, Ruíz was no longer required to work, and he was sent to various correctional and medical facilities. Ruíz had committed many disciplinary infractions including the stabbing, the escape attempt, and the refusal to work, so he was sent to the Wynne Unit
, where he met Fred Cruz, a prisoner who filed successful lawsuits against the prison system. At the Wynne Unit Ruíz, Cruz, and other prisoners worked together to file lawsuits against TDC.
Case citation
Case citation is the system used in many countries to identify the decisions in past court cases, either in special series of books called reporters or law reports, or in a 'neutral' form which will identify a decision wherever it was reported...
, filed in United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas
United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas
The United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas is the Federal district court with jurisdiction over the southern part of Texas...
, eventually became the most far-reaching lawsuit
Lawsuit
A lawsuit or "suit in law" is a civil action brought in a court of law in which a plaintiff, a party who claims to have incurred loss as a result of a defendant's actions, demands a legal or equitable remedy. The defendant is required to respond to the plaintiff's complaint...
on the conditions of prison
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
incarceration in American history. It began as a civil action, a handwritten petition filed against the Texas Department of Corrections (TDC) in 1972 by inmate David Resendez Ruíz alleging that the conditions of his incarceration, such as overcrowding, lack of access to health care, and abusive security practices, were a violation of his constitutional rights. In 1974, the petition was joined by seven other inmates and became a class action suit known as Ruiz v. Estelle, 550 F.2d 238. The trial ended in 1979 with the ruling that the conditions of imprisonment within the TDC prison system constituted cruel and unusual punishment
Cruel and unusual punishment
Cruel and unusual punishment is a phrase describing criminal punishment which is considered unacceptable due to the suffering or humiliation it inflicts on the condemned person...
in violation of the United States Constitution
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
, with the original report issued in 1980, a 118 page decision by Judge William Justice
William Wayne Justice
William Wayne Justice was an American jurist. He served as a United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Texas and a Senior United States District Judge for the Western District of Texas....
(Ruiz v. Estelle, 503 F.Supp. 1295).
Subsequent litigation
There followed decades of further litigation in the form of consent decreeConsent decree
A consent decree is a final, binding judicial decree or judgment memorializing a voluntary agreement between parties to a suit in return for withdrawal of a criminal charge or an end to a civil litigation...
s, appeal
Appeal
An appeal is a petition for review of a case that has been decided by a court of law. The petition is made to a higher court for the purpose of overturning the lower court's decision....
s and other legal actions, until a final judgment was rendered in 1992. But problems in enforcement continued, and in 1996 U.S. Congress enacted the Prison Litigation Reform Act
Prison Litigation Reform Act
The Prison Litigation Reform Act is a U.S. federal law that was enacted in 1996. Congress enacted PLRA in response to a significant increase in prisoner litigation in the federal courts; the PLRA was designed to help unclog the court system from this litigation.For the preceding 20 – 30 years,...
(PLRA) to address these issues as well as abuse of the prison litigation process.
However, in October 1997, the district court, still not satisfied with the compliance of the TDC, gave permission for continuing site visits by attorneys and experts for the inmate class, and this continued into 1999. In response to this, the TDC issued more than 450,000 pages of evidence and accepted 50 additional site visits. In 2001, the court found that the TDC was in compliance on the issue of use of force
Use of force
The term use of force describes a right of an individual or authority to settle conflicts or prevent certain actions by applying measures to either: a) dissuade another party from a particular course of action, or b) physically intervene to stop them...
against inmates and had adequate policies and procedures in place. However, the court continued to have issues with the "current and ongoing constitutional violations regarding administrative segregation [in] the conditions of confinement and the practice of using administrative segregation to house mentally ill inmates" that it found.
In 2007, in the consolidated case of Jones v. Bock
Jones v. Bock
Jones v. Bock, , was a case before the United States Supreme Court.- Background :Congress passed the Prison Litigation Reform Act to help reduce the strain on the federal judicial system of extensive inmate litigation...
the U.S. Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, set forth limitations on the extent of prison litigation.
David Resendez Ruíz
David Resendez Ruíz (died on November 12, 2005 in Hospital Galveston) was a man from East Austin, TexasAustin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
. Ruíz, a Mexican-American, was classified as White in the TDC records.
Ruíz, the son of migrant farmworkers and the youngest of 13 children, got into trouble with the law from an early age; as a child he was arrested for fighting and shoplifting. After an arrest for a car theft, 12-year old Ruíz received a sentence to serve time in Gatesville State School
Gatesville State School
The Gatesville State School for Boys was a juvenile corrections facility in Gatesville, Texas. The facility was converted into two prisons for adults, the Christina Crain Unit , and the Hilltop Unit.-History:...
in Gatesville
Gatesville, Texas
Gatesville is a city in and the county seat of Coryell County in Central Texas, United States of America. The population was 15,591 at the 2000 census...
; he arrived for his first session in 1954.In Gatesville he socialized with "hard core" state school students from Austin and San Antonio
San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...
. Ruíz had four sessions in Gatesville. After Ruíz left Gatesville for the final time, he turned 17, which made him an adult in the Texas penal system.
After another car theft, he was sentenced to serve time in the Texas Department of Corrections (TDC). He initially was placed in Huntsville
Huntsville, Texas
Huntsville is a city in and the county seat of Walker County, Texas, United States. The population was 35,508 at the 2010 census. It is the center of the Huntsville micropolitan area....
; two weeks later he was assigned to the Ramsey Farm
Ramsey Unit
The W. F. Ramsey Unit is a Texas Department of Criminal Justice prison located in unincorporated Brazoria County, Texas. The prison is located on Farm to Market Road 655, near Rosharon, west of Farm to Market Road 521,. and south of Houston. The unit is co-located with the Stringfellow Unit and...
in Brazoria County, Texas
Brazoria County, Texas
Brazoria County[p] is a county in the U.S. state of Texas, located on the Gulf Coast within the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area. Regionally, parts of the county are within the extreme southern-most fringe of the regions locally known as Southeast Texas. Brazoria County is among a...
, where he worked in fields. In Ramsey Ruíz attempted to kill an inmate that he believed was planning to have Ruíz killed; the stabbing injured but did not kill the prisoner. The prison authorities beat Ruíz as a punishment. During his confinement in Ramsey, Ruíz had also committed lesser infractions. His first adult sentence lasted seven years. After he left prison, Ruíz married a woman named Rose Marie and the two had a female child together.
Thirteen months after his release, on July 1968, Ruíz was again placed in the custody of the TDC; he said that he had "picked up the gun" because he had no education or trade skills to support himself and his family. He was then assigned to the Eastham Unit
Eastham Unit
Eastham Unit is a Texas Department of Criminal Justice prison for men and located in unincorporated Houston County, Texas GPS Coordinates 30.978106, -95.632274. The prison is located at the dead end of Farm to Market Road 230, near Lovelady and west of Trinity...
in Houston County
Houston County, Texas
Houston County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of 2000, the population was 23,185. Its county seat is Crockett. Houston County is named for Samuel Houston, a president of the Republic of Texas and Governor of Texas...
, where he continued to work in fields. While at Eastham Ruíz participated in a failed escape attempt. The warden of Eastham and George Beto
George Beto
Dr. George John Beto is a former director of the Texas Department of Corrections, a criminal justice expert, a teacher, and a Lutheran minister.Beto was born in Hysham, Montana on January 19, 1916....
, the TDC director, escorted Ruíz back to prison. After a week in the infirmary, Ruíz was placed in solitary confinement for 45 days; there he decided to become a prison activist. After Ruíz left solitary confinement, he refused to work in the fields any longer and cut his achilles tendon with a razor. Because of the self-inflicted injuries, Ruíz was no longer required to work, and he was sent to various correctional and medical facilities. Ruíz had committed many disciplinary infractions including the stabbing, the escape attempt, and the refusal to work, so he was sent to the Wynne Unit
Wynne Unit
The John M. Wynne Unit is a men's prison of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, located in northern Huntsville, Texas, at the intersection of Farm to Market Road 2821 West and Texas State Highway 75 North. The Windham School District has its headquarters in the unit...
, where he met Fred Cruz, a prisoner who filed successful lawsuits against the prison system. At the Wynne Unit Ruíz, Cruz, and other prisoners worked together to file lawsuits against TDC.
See also
- Trusty systemTrusty systemThe "trusty system" was a strict system of discipline and security in the US made compulsory under Mississippi state law as the method of controlling and working inmates at Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman, Mississippi's...
- Gates v. CollierGates v. CollierGates v. Collier, 501 F.2d 1291 , was a landmark case decided in U.S. federal court that brought an end to the Trusty system and the flagrant inmate abuse that accompanied it at Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman, Mississippi...
- Convict leaseConvict leaseConvict leasing was a system of penal labor practiced in the Southern United States, beginning with the emancipation of slaves at the end of the American Civil War in 1865, peaking around 1880, and ending in the last state, Alabama, in 1928....
External links
- O.L. McCotter to White, July 8, 1985 - Texas State Library & Archives Commission