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| Fed oversight of Texas jails scaled back |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 07/02/2001 |
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A judge scaled back federal oversight of the Texas prison system, but said unconstitutional practices remain a problem when it comes to inmate safety, officers' use of force and the segregation of certain inmates. On June 18, U.S. District Judge William Wayne Justice terminated federal supervision of several areas of the state's prison system, including staffing, support services, discipline, access to courts, crowding, health services and death row. Justice ruled that the Texas Department of Criminal Justice had 'vastly improved the system that at one point was incapable of description - the conditions so pernicious and the inmates' pain and degradation so extensive.'' Under the judge's ruling, federal oversight would continue in the areas of inmate safety, the segregation of inmates from other prisoners, and use of force. In those areas, he said, inmates 'remain victims of an unconstitutional system.'' The federal government was granted oversight of the prison system as part of a lawsuit filed against the department of criminal justice in 1972. In that suit, inmate David Ruiz claimed conditions were so brutal and crowded they amounted to cruel and unusual punishment. Justice agreed in a 1981 ruling. Texas spent billions of dollars on new prisons and improvements after the ruling, and most federal controls were lifted in a 1992 settlement. But the judge retained oversight. In March, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had given Justice 90 days to decide whether Texas has improved its state prisons enough to be free of his oversight. The appeals court said Justice needed to specify any problems he found in the prisons and determine how they violated his orders. In the most recent ruling, Justice ordered the two sides in the lawsuit to reach an agreement within 90 days on measures to resolve the three remaining issues. 'The court is giving Texas prison officials the first opportunity to decide how the remaining constitutional violations will be ended,'' attorneys Donna Brorby and Gail Saliterman, who represented inmates in the case, said in a statement. The attorneys said the court is insisting that Texas prison officials protect prisoners from violence and treat mentally ill inmates instead of simply segregating them from other prisoners. Texas Attorney General John Cornyn said the ruling puts Texas one step closer to freedom from federal oversight of the prison system. 'However, I disagree with Judge Justice's finding that certain aspects of our prison system require continued federal intervention,'' Cornyn added. Cornyn said he will appeal part of the ruling to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans. |
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