Group claims lawsuit a factor in Clements' parole decision By TIM O'LEARY Daily Texan Staff A spokesman for a prisoners solidarity group charged Tues- day that Gov. Bill Clements did not sign a parole for David Ruiz on June 23 "out of the goodness of his heart," but that perhaps other motivations may have spurred the decision. Julius Corpus, a local spokesman for the nationwide Prison- ers Solidarity Committee, said the parole might be attributed to an increased public awareness of Ruiz' lawsuit against the state prison system and that Clements thought it might stop the lawsuit Ruiz filed against him in May. A spokesman for the governor, however, said that Clemen& took into consideration Ruiz' "long history of violence" when determining conditions for parole and that Ruiz' suit is only one of many annually filed by prisoners against Clements. Ruiz, currently imprisoned in a federal penitentiary in Cali- fornia, will soon be released to a Texas halfway house for six months as a condition of his parole. Ruiz had been imprisoned for armed robbery and assault since 1968 and was granted parole on his 14th application. Ruiz' suit against Clements claims that the governor used disciplinary records that were ordered expunged — not allowed by the court during parole considerations. Corpus said that "Clements had to give him (Ruiz) that blow- of imposing a six-month stay at a halfway house instead of two months, the minimum parole assessment. "He (Ruiz) is not a danger to anyone. He has matured tre- mendously," Corpus said. "He is very conscious that he's a scapegoat for the system. He's logical, intelligent and tired." Willis Whatley, deputy general counsel for Clements, said Tuesday, "The reasons for the Ruiz parole were given in an interview of David Dean (Clements' general counsel) with the Fort Worth Star Telegram on June 24." Whatley said, "The Ruiz-Estelle case and the lawsuit brought against the governor had nothing to do with the parole," adding that many such suits are filed yearly by prison- ers. Whatley said that each parole recommendation is judged on its own merits, and there are many "various and sundry" con- siderations involved in parole decisions. "Each appeal stands on its own two feet. "Governor Clements has the authority to make the length of time spent in a halfway house a condition of the parole's ap- proval, and considering the practices of his (Ruiz's) back- ground it would be best to mandate the six months in order to help him readjust to the mainstream in an orderly process," Whatley said. "His parole application was entitled the same process as every other recommendation," he said. Corpus cited TDC statistics showing that the average prison time for those serving sentences of 20 to 29 years is six years and eight months. "David has served more than twice what the average prisoner does," he said. "From Clements on down, the state has attempted to under- mine and smash David because he started a silent revolution to get prisoners together to fight the system," he said. Ruiz was brutalized by guards and building tenders and his life was repeatedly threatened, Corpus said. In addition, Ruiz spent at least eight years in isolation from the general prison population and be was "framed" by an al- leged attempt to link him to homosexual activities and posses- sion of a weapon, Corpus said. "The charges were the opposite of David's beliefs — he was fighting to stop sexual abuse in prisons," Corpus said. Evidence given in U.S. District Judge William Wayne Jus- tice's Dec. 10 memorandum opinion showed that Ruiz was "beaten on the head by officers" and "maced by Warden David Christian of the Retrieve Unit." Corpus said racial minorities make up the majority of TDC prisoners because of what he termed the "racism" of the legal system, and that most prison violence is perpetrated by guards or building tenders. "Nobody wants to go to a disciplinary hearing. Everybody wants out — they just want to go home to their family," he said. "In 15 years I never had a fight." Nily "Teo& i-141