The Mentally Retarded Offenders Program of the Texas Department of Corrections

• Author: Mark Kunkel,Michael Pugh
• Published date: 01 April 1986
• Date: 01 April 1986
• DOI: 10.1177/003288558606600106
• Subject Matter: Articles

39

The

Mentally

Retarded

Offenders

Program

of

the

Texas

Department

of

Corrections

Michael

Pugh

with

an

Introduction

by

Mark

Kunkel*

*Michael

Pugh

is

compliance

coordinator,

Health

Services

Division,

Texas

Department

of

Corrections.

Mark

Kunkel

is

administrative

assistant,

Office

of

the

Special

Master,

U.S.

District

Court

for the

Southern

District

of

Texas.

Introduction

On

December

12,

1981,

after

159

days

of

a

trial

that

lasted

longer

than

any

other

prison

case,

after

349

witnesses

had

testi-

fied

and

1,565

exhibits

were

received

into

evidence,

U.S.

District

Judge William

Wayne

Justice

issued

a

118-page opinion

in

the civil

action,

Roiz

v.

Estelle.

After

describing

conditions

and

practices

in

the

Texas

Department

of

Corrections

(TDC),

then

the

largest

state

prison

system

in

the

country,

the

Court

concluded

that

&dquo;con-

stitutional

infirmities

pervade

the

TDC

prison

system&dquo;

(503

F.

Supp.

1391

[ 1980] ).

With

respect

to

mentally

retarded

inmates,

the

Court

concluded

that

by

not

recognizing

the

special

habilitation

needs

of

such

inmates,

the

TDC

failed

to

meet

its

constitutional

obligation

to

provide

minimally

adequate

conditions

of

confinement.

With

the

entry

of

the

Court’s

opinion,

attorneys

for

the

TDC

and

the

plaintiff

class

of

TDC

inmates

were

given

the

opportunity

to

reach

agreement

on

specific

plans

to

remedy

the

prison

system’s

unconstitutional

conditions

and

practices.

The

parties

entered

into

a

proposed

consent

decree

in

which

they

agreed

on

provisions

con-

cerning,

among

other

things,

conditions

of

confinement

of

&dquo;special

needs

inmates,&dquo;

including

the

mentally

retarded.

The

Consent

Decree,

approved

by

the

Court

on

April

20,

1981,

required

that

the

TDC

provide

all

special

needs

inmates

with

adequate

medical

care,

adequate

living

facilities

and

working

con-

ditions,

fair

discipline,

and

protection

from

other

prisoners.

The

TDC

was

required

to

prepare

a

plan

that

would

include

a

system

for

adequately

identifying

special

needs

inmates,

evaluating

their

needs,

and

developing

individualized

treatment

plans

appropri-

ate

for

their

needs,

along

with

assurances

for

their

implementa-

tion.

The

Consent

Decree

actually

contemplated

a

single

plan

ad-

dressing

the

needs

of

all

special

needs

inmates,

including

the

men-

tally

retarded,

the

physically

handicapped,

the

developmentally