Opinion ID: 404985
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: introductory facts

Text: 5 The Texas state prison system, operated by TDC, is the largest in the United States. Its inmates, now numbering more than 33,000, are confined in cells or dormitories located in twenty-two separate units, almost all of which have maximum security. Most of the approximately 10,000 cells measure nine feet by five feet, but some are as large as sixty-six square feet. Most of the dormitories house large numbers of inmates and are crowded. After the consolidation of eight separate actions by individual inmates against W. J. Estelle, the Director of TDC, challenging the conditions of their confinement, the district court certified the case as a class action and permitted the United States to intervene as a plaintiff. 9 6 The trial began in Houston on October 2, 1978, and, after 159 days of trial, bridging a three-month recess, was completed on September 20, 1979. Three hundred forty-nine witnesses testified and 1,565 exhibits were received into evidence. 10 The district court issued a 118-page memorandum opinion on December 12, 1980, indicating generally the relief it proposed to grant, and gave the parties an opportunity to agree on a proposed judgment. The parties later filed a proposed consent decree disposing of many of the issues. 11 The district court approved this consent decree, entered a decree granting equitable relief and a declaratory judgment 12 on the issues not disposed of by the consent decree, appointed a special master to monitor implementation of the relief ordered, 13 and denied TDC's motion for a stay. TDC then applied to this court for a stay, which we granted in part and denied in part. 14 TDC later sought a supplemental stay, which, again, we granted in part and denied in part. 15 The parties then agreed to a second consent decree that modified parts of the district court's decree, and we remanded the case to enable the district court to hold a class action hearing on the proposed modifications. After that hearing, the district court approved the second consent decree 16 and, in accordance with its terms, TDC moved under Fed.R.App.P. 42(b) for voluntary dismissal of its appeal of the provisions of the district court's decree 17 that were superseded by the second consent decree. The case has also been before us on interlocutory appeals; this marks its seventh appearance in our court. 18 7 We turn first to the pervasive issues still contested: TDC's attack on the fairness of the trial, the sufficiency of the district court's findings of fact, the intervention by the United States, and the joinder of the Texas Board of Corrections and individual members of the Board as parties defendant.