For the first time in 20 years, the Texas prison system may soon be free of federal court control.
Both Texas Attorney General Dan Morales and lawyers for state prisoners last week signed an agreement to end the legal fight than began in 19972 when inmate David Ruiz filed a handwritten lawsuit alleging the state prison system was inhumane and unconstitutional.
Whether the landmark Ruiz case will finally exit the courts depends on how U.S. District Judge William Wayne Justice, who has handled the case from the beginning, rules in the next two months.
Already, the lawsuit has triggered major reforms in the way the Texas prison system operates, including a limit on the number of inmates a facility may incarcerate.
As a result of those limitations, citizens at the polls have approved $1.6 billion of general obligation bonds in two elections to build new prisons.
While those capital plans are not expected to change, state officials said the removal of the Texas prison system form the dictates of the federal courts is still a major step.
For Texas, the settlement would move the state closer to closing out an era in which the courts have governed much of the double-A rated state's general fund spending.
"I think the whole criminal justice system will breathe a collective sigh of relief," said Selden Hale, chairman of the Texas Board of Criminal Justice, which has responsibility for overseeing the corrections system.
"Then we can get started on other major issues like parole and prison construction," he added.
