Even Opponents Judge Him on His Merits : Jails: William P. Gray rankled many officials with his rulings that forced an overhaul of the county jail system. Yet some of his fiercest foes credit him with changing things for the better.

When U.S. District Judge William P. Gray handed down his first ruling on an Orange County jail overcrowding case, Gaddi H. Vasquez was still a police officer in the city of Orange.

Thirteen years later, Vasquez is chairman of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, and Gray is preparing to wrap up a 25-year judicial career. When he does, probably early next month, Gray will leave behind an Orange County jail system that he has spent more than a decade overhauling one piece at a time--sometimes despite a bitterly disgruntled Board of Supervisors.

And though Gray singed his share of egos in the process, he won the admiration of some of the same officials who felt his wrath from the bench. Last week, in the wake of the news that Gray planned to retire, many of those officials credited him with skillfully prodding the county into expanding and modernizing its jail system.

“His views and my views on crowding may differ,” said Supervisor Thomas F. Riley, one of the board members whom Gray found in contempt of court in 1985. “But I think he’s sincere, and he’s done what he believes is right.”

Largely as a result of Gray’s rulings, county inmates who once slept in showers and on floors at the Central Men’s Jail now have bunks, albeit in crowded quarters. Two other county jails--the James A. Musick and Theo Lacy branch jails--have been expanded, adding hundreds of new beds to the system. A third, the Intake/Release Center in Santa Ana, was built after Gray cracked the whip over the plodding county government.

“If I had a vote, I’d name the IRC after Judge Gray,” said Lawrence Grossman, who served as Gray’s special monitor in the county jail system for years and now works as a county consultant. “He’s the reason it got built.”

Even though some of the changes have been tumultuous and the system still is overcrowded, Grossman and a lawyer for the inmates agreed that the jails today are far better managed than when Gray first stepped in.

“Prisoners would still be sleeping next to toilets if it were not for Judge Gray,” said Dick Herman, the American Civil Liberties Union lawyer who represents county inmates. “Orange County does not have the worst jails in the state, and Judge Gray is a big part of the reason why.”

Grossman agreed.

“There’s no question that because of the litigation and the things that Judge Gray has said and done, that the county has a better jail system now,” Grossman said. “The judge has really been a friend to the county.”

It hasn’t always seemed that way.

Gray first became involved in the Orange County jail overcrowding issue in 1975, when he was assigned the case involving a lawsuit filed by a group of county inmates, who complained that overcrowding had created intolerable conditions at the main jail. In 1978, Gray ruled in their favor.

From that ruling on, Gray assumed the task of overseeing the county system. In 1985, he cited the Board of Supervisors and Sheriff Brad Gates for contempt of court, and he placed a strict cap on the housing population at the main men’s jail. He stepped in again in 1986, citing Gates one more time for contempt.

Supervisor Roger R. Stanton, who was in his fifth year on the board in 1985, credited the judge with persistently keeping to his task: protecting inmates’ constitutional rights.

“The federal judiciary is going to be missing a true gentleman and a great jurist,” Stanton said after Gray’s retirement announcement. “I have nothing but a great deal of respect for Judge Gray. He has a mission and he has carried it out.”

Riley, a retired Marine Corps brigadier general, agreed. “He’s been like a good Marine, I guess,” Riley said.

Board Chairman Vasquez, who took office after Gray’s contempt citation, echoed the view of his colleagues, saying he felt the judge had dealt fairly with the county over the years. Vasquez also emphasized that Gray has mixed his condemnations with praise when the county took steps to alleviate the jail problems.

“He has given us credit when credit is due,” Vasquez said. “The county has not stood still on this issue.”

Supervisor Don R. Roth, who led the charge to expand the Theo Lacy Branch Jail in his own district, added that Gray’s orders had helped propel that project.

“I think the judge was trying to drive a point home, and we got it,” Roth said. “At least I did something about it: We’re expanding Theo Lacy, and the first phase will be ready in August.”

Even as Gray’s tenure winds down, he faces one more set of questions with potentially great consequences for the county.

He was back touring the Orange County jails last week, and back in court on Wednesday, peppering lawyers and witnesses with questions about conditions inside the county’s five jails. The outcome of the current litigation, which Gray is expected to rule on within the next few weeks, could determine whether Orange County has to cap the number of inmates it is allowed to house at its other four jails.

In all likelihood, that will be the last time Gray rules on an Orange County jail matter. He plans to turn over the case to newly appointed U.S. District Judge Gary L. Taylor, who served in Orange County Superior Court and is well-liked here.

Given the continuing litigation, lawyers for the county declined to comment on Gray’s tenure or their treatment by the court.

Vasquez, however, said he welcomed Taylor’s oversight of the case. “I don’t know that the transfer will affect the issue,” he said. “I know Judge Taylor to be a fair jurist.”

Moreover, other officials added that their responsibilities will not change just because a different judge takes over as jail overseer.

“The county just has to do its job in the best way it can,” Stanton said. “I personally have been pushing for a new jail in Gypsum Canyon for more than five years. . . . This county has to keep meeting its responsibility no matter who the new judge is.”

As to renaming the Intake/Release Center after the judge whose rulings left the county with few options but to build it, Vasquez said, “As the judges say, I will take that under advisement.”