Resource: The Origins of Ruiz v. Estelle

On March 21, 1990, the Honorable William Wayne Justice, as Herman Phleger Visiting Professor of Law, delivered a speech to the Stanford community on the origins of Ruiz v. Estelle, the case in which Judge Justice, after exercising unusual initiative in ordering consolidation of prisoner complaints into a class action, finding counsel for the plaintiff class, and ordering the U.S. Justice Department to appear as amicus curiae, held that state penitentiary treatment and conditions in Texas were unconstitutionally cruel. The Stanford Law Review is pleased to reprint the text of Judge Justice’s remark