Ruiz v. Estelle’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

58 federal appellate · 11 district · 17 state decisions

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 145 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “[I]t is impossible for a written opinion to convey the pernicious conditions and the pain and degradation which ordinary inmates suffer within TDC prison walls— the gruesome experiences of youthful first offenders forcibly raped; the cruel and justifiable fears of inmates, wondering when they will be called upon to defend the next violent assault; the sheer misery, the discomfort, the wholesale loss of privacy for prisoners housed with one, two, or three others in a forty-five foot cell or suffocatingly packed together in a crowded dormitory; the physical suffering and wretched psychological stress which must be endured by those sick or injured who cannot obtain adequate medical care; the sense of abject helplessness felt by inmates arbitrarily sent to solitary confinement or administrative segregation without proper opportunity to defend themselves or to argue their causes; the bitter frustration of inmates prevented from petitioning the courts and other government authorities for relief from perceived injustices.”

   3 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. 319 F. Supp. 2d 162 - Kane v. Winn · 37 F. Supp. 2d 855 - Ruiz v. Johnson

2. “First, there must be a systematic program for screening and evaluating inmates in order to identify those who require mental health treatment. See Pugh v. Locke, 406 F.Supp. [318] at 333 [ (1976) ]; Laaman v. Helgemoe, 437 F.Supp. [269] at 319, 324 [(1977)]; Barnes v. Government of Virgin Islands, 415 F.Supp. [1218] at 1235 [(1976)] Anderson v. Redman, 429 F.Supp. 1105, 1121 (D.Del.1977). Second, as was underscored in both Newman [Newman v. Alabama, 559 F.2d 283 (5th Cir.1977)] and Bowring [Bowring v. Godwin, 551 F.2d 44 (4th Cir.1977)], treatment must entail more than segregation and close supervision of the inmate patients. Third, treatment requires the participation of trained mental health professionals, who must be employed in sufficient numbers to identify and treat in an individualized manner those treatable inmates suffering from serious mental disorders. See Pugh v. Locke, 406 F.Supp. at 333; Laaman v. Helgemoe, 437 F.Supp. at 324. Fourth, accurate, complete, and confidential records of the mental health treatment process must be maintained. Fifth, prescription and administration of behavior-altering medications in dangerous amounts, by dangerous methods, or without appropriate supervision and periodic evaluation, is an unacceptable method of treatment. Sixth, a basic program for the identification, treatment and supervision of inmates with suicidal tendencies is a necessary component of any mental health treatment program. See e.g., Collins v. Schoonfield, 344 F.Sup”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Dunn v. Dunn · 595 F. Supp. 1558 - Balla v. Idaho State Board of Corrections

3. “[D]ue process requires that hearing bodies be independent, fairminded, and capable of an individuated judgment in each case, based upon the evidence presented at the hearing. In the context of prison disciplinary hearings, two standards must be met: (1) the disciplinary committee must not include persons who were involved in the incident being judged; and (2) individual members of the disciplinary committee must not have such pre-existing biases or opinions as to preclude them from deciding, with open minds, the cases which come before them.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Thompson v. State · McDuffie v. Estelle