Texas must maintain enough space for its prison population because courts have ruled that overcrowding

Constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.

Explanation:

This ruling came in 1972 when David Ruiz who was an inmate, sued William Estelle who was the Texas Department of Corrections (TDC) director over poor living and working conditions of the area. His class action suit, the ever longest running lawsuit by a prisoner in United States history, established that the management of TDC prisons constituted cruel and unusual punishments which is proscribed by the 8th amendment to the constitution of the U.S.

He rightly established that the placement of two or more inmates in a facility meant for one inmate is overcrowding. After 129 days, the District court in Texas ruled in plaintiffs’ favour and that led to an agreement for the state to reduce the population of inmates to 95% of the capacity of the prison, together with the separation of hardcore offenders from other inmates.