According to Roger Morris (1983), who conducted extensive interviews with the major plaintiffs in the case, this lawsuit arose out of a specific incident.
In 1976, an inmate who was seeking medical help for heroin withdrawal at the prison hospital was thrown into the "hole" in Cellblock 3 of the Penitentiary of New Mexico, where he was allegedly beaten by guards, including being kicked "repeatedly in the scrotum" (Morris 1983: 47).
Dwight Duran, another prisoner who was a boyhood friend of this inmate, attempted to nurse him back to health, but his condition worsened.
The suit was joined by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) July 6, 1978, as one of their major cases challenging prison conditions in the United States.
[2] Ten Grand Jury reports, dating back to the 1970s, had pointed out the serious dangers posed by the poor living conditions, overcrowding, mismanagement, and a shortage of trained personnel within the state corrections system, but the politicians had not been addressing these issues.