"It is everything we wanted it to be," said Cayenne Bird, a prison reform advocate whose United for No Injustice, Oppression or Neglect (UNION) has helped several families of inmates who have died at the local prisons to file wrongful-death suits. "It's going to affect all the prisons similarly. There will be budget issues to consider, but it puts medical care at a higher priority."

Bird said it was the only proper step for the judge to take. "We are all sick of the bureaucratic inertia and we are sick of an inspector general that is basically useless," she said. "We are hopeful now."

"We supported the receivership because we believe this department is incapable of reforming itself," said Gary Robinson, executive director of the Union of American Physicians and Dentistry. "The department has had the opportunity for numerous years to implement these standards and has done nothing."

Doctors, dentists and nurses had written to Judge Henderson urging him to place the system into receivership.