Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/10pdf/09-1233.pdf
Page Number: 23

Cite as:  563 U. S. ____ (2011) 

17 

Opinion of the Court 

satisfied  in  Plata  by  approval  of  a  consent  decree  and 
stipulated injunction in 2002.  Both orders were intended 
to  remedy  the  constitutional  violations.    Both  were  given
ample  time  to  succeed.  When  the  three-judge  court  was 
convened,  12  years  had  passed  since  the  appointment  of
the Coleman Special Master, and 5 years had passed since
the  approval  of  the Plata  consent  decree.  The  State  does 
not  claim  that  either  order  achieved  a  remedy.  Although
the  PLRA  entitles  a  State  to  terminate  remedial  orders 
such  as  these  after  two  years  unless  the  district  court
finds  that  the  relief  “remains  necessary  to  correct  a
current  and  ongoing  violation  of  the  Federal  right,”
§3626(b)(3),  California  has  not  attempted  to  obtain  relief 
on this basis. 

The State  claims instead that  the second condition, the 
reasonable time requirement of §3626(a)(3)(A)(ii), was not 
met because other, later remedial efforts should have been 
given more time to succeed.  In 2006, the Coleman District 
Judge  approved  a  revised  plan  of  action  calling  for  con-
struction  of  new  facilities,  hiring  of  new  staff,  and  im-
plementation  of  new  procedures.    That  same  year,  the 
Plata District Judge selected and appointed a Receiver to
oversee  the  State’s  ongoing  remedial  efforts.    When  the 
three-judge  court  was  convened,  the  Receiver  had  filed  a 
preliminary  plan  of  action  calling  for  new  construction, 
hiring of additional staff, and other procedural reforms. 

Although both the revised plan of action in Coleman and 
the appointment of the Receiver in Plata were new devel-
opments  in  the  courts’  remedial  efforts,  the  basic  plan  to
solve  the  crisis  through  construction,  hiring,  and  proce-
dural  reforms  remained  unchanged.    These  efforts  had 
been ongoing for years; the failed consent decree in  Plata 
had  called  for  implementation  of  new  procedures  and 
hiring of additional staff; and the Coleman Special Master
had  issued over  70  orders  directed  at  achieving  a  remedy 
through construction, hiring, and procedural reforms.  The