24 Aralla 1lorning Nelu$ Monday, November 23, 1981 State officials blame court order for prison violence Associated Press State officials say a federal judge's demand for widespread prison reform is responsible for a recent wave of violence that has shaken the Texas Department of Corrections. Since June, 11 disturbances have erupted at state prisons. Just six disturbances occurred between 1973 and May 1980. The 50 inmates who engaged in the most recent disturbance — a rock-throwing, tent-burning melee Friday night — caused an esti- mated $100,000 in damages, a Texas Department of Corrections spokes- man said Sunday. Fifteen convicts remained hos- pitalized Sunday with minor inju- ries from the disturbance at the Eastham Unit, near Trinity in East Texas, TDC spokesman Rick Hart- ley said. All 50 prisoners who partici- pated in the free-for-all were in- jured in the incident. Hartley said prison officials used a "minimum of force" to subdue the fight at a tent housing area where 272 in- Bill Clements . . . blames the unrest on a court-ap- pointed special master "playing father confessor" to the inmates. mates moved last summer under the federal order to relieve over- crowded cells. Asked whether the fact the pris- oners were not in cells allowed the tent-burning and rock-throwing to get out of hand, TDC spokesman Rick Hartley replied: "That's cer- tainly true." The melee came two days after a riot in which 500 inmates partici- pated at the Darrington Unit 150 miles away. Thirteen people were injured and $200,000 worth of prop- erty was damaged. "We have a very serious and dangerous situation," Atty. Gen. Mark White said Saturday. "We have been fortunate that there has been no loss of life. I feel this is di- rectly attributable to the actions of the federal court that has given prisoners the mistaken notion that they do not need to obey the rules and regulations of the prison sys- tem." Gov. Bill Clements, reached in New Orleans, where he was attend- ing the Republican Governors Con- ference, blamed the unrest on a court-appointed special master, who Clements said is "playing fa- ther confessor" to the inmates. "These disturbances are not nearly as serious as those in New York or New Mexico, but when you look at it in terms of our history, they are an indication of restless- ness and turmoil we have not had before," Clements said. Clements said the corrections board and TDC Director James Es- telle agree "that this is due to the special master and his staff circu- lating in the prisons and making himself highly visible." Hartley said that while prison officials now are monitoring all un- its closely, they have not increased their security forces. "We feel there is definitely a correlation between the court or- der and the special master. . . and the increased violence," Hartley said. "Some of the disturbances were directly related to that or- der." U.S. Dist. Judge William Wayne Justice of Tyler ordered prison offi- cials in December to solve prob- lems such as overcrowding, inade- quate medical care and understaff- ing. The state agreed to make some of the changes, but has appealed the others. At least two of the recent distur- bances have been directly related to the court order. In October, in- mates refused to work or go into their cells at the Retrieve Unit and demanded to see the special mas- ter. Meanwhile, at the Ramsey Unit, 160 inmates refused to work, com- plaining the court order was not being obeyed. Several other work stoppages have been reported. White said he met Friday with the special master, Nathan Vincent, to "get him to recognize that the prisoners are using him as an excuse to rebel and be unruly." "So far it seems that every one of these federal officials takes the side of the prisoners. I'm tired of our law enforcement people put- ting their lives on the line to arrest people only to find out that' a fed- eral judge wants them to all have private rooms," White said. "Too many people are crying tears for the prisoners and not for the victims. They are not being treated badly. They have clean clothes every day and food better than most people get to eat, and they are not abused. "I'm sick and tired of hearing from the little whining devils." But William Bennett Turner of San Francisco, who represented the inmates who filed the class-ac- tion lawsuit that led to Justice's or- der, said state officials are using the court order as a scapegoat.
