Writ Writer

Writ Writer portrays the historic conflict that emerged in the 1960s when Texas prisoners petitioned the courts for relief from inhumane prison conditions. Focusing on the story of self-taught jailhouse lawyer Fred Arispe Cruz, the film uncovers his legal battle, his collaboration with poverty law attorney Frances Jalet, and his successful litigation for the right of Texas prisoners to assist one another with lawsuits. His litigation paved the legal path for Ruiz v Estelle, the most comprehensive court-ordered state prison reform litigation in U.S. history.

This Silver Gavel award winner includes commentary by civil rights attorneys William Bennett Turner and Steve J. Martin, and rare on-camera interviews with former Texas prison wardens and prisoners, and illuminates a critical chapter in the contemporary history of U.S. corrections.

Archival films of Texas prison life are combined with original documentary footage to reveal a troubled prison system on the verge of historic change. Dramatic aspects of the story emerge from the courtroom testimony, correspondence and diaries of Cruz over the course of his legal battle.