View source for Ruiz v. Estelle

{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2023}}
'''''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.<ref name="reynolds1"/>

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]].<ref name="reynolds1"/>  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]],<ref>
{{cite web
|url=http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fpo65
|title=Handbook of Texas Online - Pope, Lawrence Chalmous
|publisher=www.tshaonline.org
|accessdate=2009-11-04
|last=Lucko
|first=Paul
}}
</ref> with the original report issued in 1980, a 118-page decision by [[William Wayne Justice|Judge William Justice]] (''Ruiz v. Estelle'', 503 F.Supp. 1295).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~jimi/450/ruiz.pdf|title=''Ruiz v. Estelle'', 503 F.Supp. 1295 (1980)|date=1980|work=PDF|accessdate=2009-11-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070227163912/http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~jimi/450/ruiz.pdf|archive-date=2007-02-27|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The decision led to federal oversight of the system, with a prison construction boom and "sweeping reforms ... that fundamentally changed how Texas prisons operated."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://freerepublic.com/focus/news/696776/posts?page=2|title=30-year Texas prison battle ends |newspaper=[[Dallas Morning News]] |date=June 8, 2002}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Crouter |first1=Mary |title=Transforming the Texas prison system |url=https://news.utexas.edu/2010/11/22/transforming-the-texas-prison-system |accessdate=22 October 2018 |work=UTNews |date=22 November 2010}}</ref>

==David Resendez Ruíz==
David Resendez Ruíz was a [[Mexican-American]] from East [[Austin, Texas]].<ref name="Perkinson253">Perkinson, Robert. ''[[Texas Tough: The Rise of America's Prison Empire]]''. First Edition. [[Metropolitan Books]], 2010. p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=HOxmcfIopugC&pg=PA253 253]. {{ISBN|978-0-8050-8069-8}}.</ref><ref name="Perkinson257">Perkinson, Robert. ''[[Texas Tough: The Rise of America's Prison Empire]]''. First Edition. [[Metropolitan Books]], 2010. p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=HOxmcfIopugC&pg=PA257 257]. {{ISBN|978-0-8050-8069-8}}.</ref>

The son of migrant farmworkers and the youngest of 13 children, he 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, Texas|Gatesville]]; he arrived for his first session in 1954.<ref name="Perkinson253"/> In Gatesville he socialized with "hard core"<!--Quote is from book--> state school students from Austin and [[San Antonio, Texas|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.<ref name="Perkinson254">Perkinson, Robert. ''[[Texas Tough: The Rise of America's Prison Empire]]''. First Edition. [[Metropolitan Books]], 2010. p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=HOxmcfIopugC&pg=PA254 254]. {{ISBN|978-0-8050-8069-8}}.</ref>

After another car theft, he was sentenced to serve time in the [[Texas Department of Corrections]] (TDC). He initially was placed in [[Huntsville, Texas|Huntsville]]; two weeks later he was assigned to the [[Ramsey Unit|Ramsey Farm]] in [[Brazoria County, Texas]], where he worked in fields. In Ramsey, Ruíz attempted to kill an inmate who he believed was planning to have Ruíz killed;<ref name="Perkinson254"/> 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 daughter together.<ref name="Perkinson255">Perkinson, Robert. ''[[Texas Tough: The Rise of America's Prison Empire]]''. First Edition. [[Metropolitan Books]], 2010. p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=HOxmcfIopugC&pg=PA255 255]. {{ISBN|978-0-8050-8069-8}}.</ref>

Thirteen months after his release, in 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, Texas|Houston County]], where he continued to work in fields. While at Eastham, Ruíz participated in a failed escape attempt.<ref name="Perkinson255"/> 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.<ref name="Perkinson256">Perkinson, Robert. ''[[Texas Tough: The Rise of America's Prison Empire]]''. First Edition. [[Metropolitan Books]], 2010. p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=HOxmcfIopugC&pg=PA256 256]. {{ISBN|978-0-8050-8069-8}}.</ref> There, David Ruiz joined a group of "writ writers" and activists known as "Eight Hoe" under the leadership of Fred Cruz and his attorney Frances Jalet.  Ruiz joined a wide social movement of prisoners who drew upon civil rights and labor resistance, as well as the sharp critique of the criminal justice by [[Black Power]] and the [[Chicano Movement]]. 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.<ref name="Perkinson257"/> 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.<ref name="Perkinson260">Perkinson, Robert. ''[[Texas Tough: The Rise of America's Prison Empire]]''. First Edition. [[Metropolitan Books]], 2010. p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=HOxmcfIopugC&pg=PA260 260]. {{ISBN|978-0-8050-8069-8}}.</ref>

Ruíz died while incarcerated in 2005 at a Texas prison hospital at the age of 63.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/statesman/name/david-ruiz-obituary?pid=15674966 | title=David Ruiz Obituary (2005) Austin American-Statesman | website=[[Legacy.com]] }}</ref>

==Subsequent litigation==
There followed a long period of further litigation in the form of [[consent decree]]s, [[appeal]]s and other legal actions, until a final judgment was rendered in 1992.<ref name="reynolds1">
{{cite web
|url=http://www.allbusiness.com/legal/1078389-1.html
|title=The final chapters of Ruiz v. Estelle, page 1
|publisher=www.allbusiness.com
|accessdate=2009-11-04
|last=Reynolds
|first=Carl
}}
</ref>  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.<ref name="reynolds2">
{{cite web
|url=http://www.allbusiness.com/legal/1078389-1.html
|title=The final chapters of Ruiz v. Estelle, page 2
|publisher=www.allbusiness.com
|accessdate=2009-11-04
|last=Reynolds
|first=Carl
}}
</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.aclu.org/images/asset_upload_file79_25805.pdf|title=Prison Litigation Reform Act|work=PDF|accessdate=2009-11-04}}</ref>

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.<ref name="reynolds2"/><ref name="reynolds4">
{{cite web
|url=http://www.allbusiness.com/legal/1078389-1.html
|title=The final chapters of Ruiz v. Estelle, page 4
|publisher=www.allbusiness.com
|accessdate=2009-11-05
|last=Reynolds
|first=Carl
}}
</ref> 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.<ref name="reynolds2"/>

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.<ref>
{{cite web
|url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/05-7058.ZS.html
|title=Jones v. Bock
|publisher=www.law.cornell.edu
|accessdate=2009-11-07
|last=
|first=
}}
</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.policyarchive.org/bitstream/handle/10207/4462/RS22617_20070306.pdf?sequence=1|title=Supreme Court Decision in ''Jones v. Bock'':Exhaustion Requirements under the Prison Litigation Reform Act|last=Wallace Jr.|first=Paul Starett|date=March 7, 2007|work=PDF|publisher=CRS Report for Congress|accessdate=2009-11-07}} {{dead link|date=April 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Texas|Law}}
*[[Trusty system (prison)|Trusty system]]
*''[[Gates v. Collier]]''
*[[Convict lease]]
*[[List of class-action lawsuits]]
{{Clear}}

==Notes==
{{reflist|2}}

==Further reading==

* {{cite journal|last1=Alpert|first1=Geoffrey P.|last2=Crouch|first2=Ben|last3=Huff|first3=C. Ronald|title=Prison Reform by Judicial Decree: The Unintended Consequences of Ruiz V. Estelle |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20877751|journal=[[The Justice System Journal]]|volume=9|issue=3|date=Winter 1984|pages=291–305|publisher=[[Taylor & Francis, Ltd.]]|jstor=20877751 }} - [https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/PRISON-REFORM-BY-JUDICIAL-DECREE%3A-THE-UNINTENDED-OF-Alpert-Crouch/885e14678240ccf0bd292fdeb4af2a30a281e7b4 Available at] [[Semantic Scholar]] [https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/jusj9&div=28&id=&page= and at] [[HeinOnline]]
* Chase, Robert T.  We Are Not Slaves: State Violence, Coerced Labor, and Prisoners' Rights in Postwar America (UNC, 2020).
https://uncpress.org/book/9781469653570/we-are-not-slaves/
* {{cite journal|last1=Marquart|first1=James W.|last2=Crouch|first2=Ben|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3053421|title=Judicial Reform and Prisoner Control: The Impact of Ruiz v. Estelle on a Texas Penitentiary|journal=[[Law & Society Review]]|volume=19|issue=4|year=1985|pages=557–586|publisher=[[Wiley (publisher)|Wiley]]|doi=10.2307/3053421 |jstor=3053421 }}

==External links==
*{{cite web
 |url         = http://www.texasafterviolence.org/transcript.mr.douglas.m.becker
 |title       = Interview with Douglas Becker, Attorney for the State in Ruiz v. Estelle.
 |publisher   = Texas After Violence Project
 |url-status     = dead
 |archiveurl  = https://web.archive.org/web/20110728092559/http://www.texasafterviolence.org/transcript.mr.douglas.m.becker
 |archivedate = 2011-07-28
}}
*{{cite web
|url=http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/jjp03
|title=Handbook of Texas Online - Prison System
|publisher=www.tshaonline.org
|accessdate=2009-11-05
|last=Lucko
|first=Paul M.
}}
*{{cite web
|url=http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/jnc01
|title=Handbook of Texas Online - Convict Lease System
|publisher=www.tshaonline.org
|accessdate=2009-11-05
|last=Walker
|first=Donald R.
}}
*{{cite web
|url=http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/smmun
|title=Handbook of Texas Online - Mental Health
|publisher=www.tshaonline.org
|accessdate=2009-11-05
|last=Creson
|first=Dan L.
}}
*{{cite web
|url=http://www.laits.utexas.edu/txp_media/html/just/features/0505_01/ruiz.html
|title=Texas Politics - Cruel and Unusual Punishment -- Ruiz v. Estelle (1980)
|publisher=www.laits.utexas.edu
|accessdate=2009-11-07
|last=
|first=
}}
*{{cite web
|url=http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/tslac/20132/tsl-20132.html
|title=Texas Department of Criminal Justice: An Inventory of Ruiz Litigation Administrative Files and Court Records at the Texas State Archives, 1966, 1978-1987, undated (bulk 1981-1983)
|publisher=www.lib.utexas.edu
|accessdate=2009-11-07
}}
* [http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/governors/modern/white-prisons.html O.L. McCotter to White, July 8, 1985] - ''[[Texas State Library & Archives Commission]]''<!--The letter has to do with the Ruiz ruling-->

[[Category:Mental health case law in the United States]]
[[Category:1979 in United States case law]]
[[Category:United States class action case law]]
[[Category:United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas cases]]
[[Category:1979 in Texas]]
[[Category:Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause case law]]
[[Category:United States District Court case articles without infoboxes]]