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April marked the beginning of a brutal heat wave across much of Texas. Summer heat is unpleasant for many people, but it can be deadly for those incarcerated in Texas prisons, where temperatures regularly reach triple digits.
With the possibility of another sweltering summer on the horizon, prison rights groups on April 22nd said the lack of air conditioning in the majority of Texas prisons constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. A complaint was filed against Brian Collier, the department's executive director.
The complaint was filed by four nonprofit organizations participating in a lawsuit filed last August by inmate Bernie Tiede, who suffered a medical crisis after being held in a Huntsville cell with temperatures exceeding 110 degrees. It is. Tiede, the famous criminal whose murder of a wealthy widow in 1996 was the inspiration for the film Barney, was moved to an air-conditioned cell following a court order, but there is no guarantee he will remain there this year.
Last month's filing expanded the plaintiffs' coverage to all inmates in unrefrigerated prisons in Texas. It has caused the deaths of dozens of inmates in Texas prisons and cost the state millions of dollars in wrongful death and civil rights lawsuits.
The plaintiffs are asking a federal judge in Austin to declare the state's prison policy unconstitutional and require prisons to be kept at temperatures below 85 degrees Fahrenheit. Texas prisons are already required to maintain facility temperatures of at least 85 degrees, and the maximum temperature at federal prisons in Texas is 76 degrees.
The average temperature from June to August last year was 85.3 degrees, the highest temperature in the world. second hottest summer And it looks like it won't be so cool this year.Latest winter season ranking warmest on record In the continental United States, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Scientists have found that climate change will make heat waves more intense and last longer. Over the past decade, Texas has experienced more than 1,000 days of record heat; compared to normal 10 years.
During the hot summer months, these concrete and metal cells can reach temperatures of more than 130 degrees, the formerly incarcerated Texan said at an April 22 press conference. Legal representatives hope to prove these conditions are unconstitutional.
„What's really upsetting is that everyone in the system, all 130,000 prisoners, is at direct risk of being affected by something that has a simple solution that's been around since the 1930s: air conditioning. ,” attorney Jeff Edwards told reporters. Edwards was the lead attorney in a 2014 prison rights lawsuit that cited about 20 Texas prison inmates who have died from heatstroke over the past two decades.That incident reached a settlementthe Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) has agreed to install air conditioning at the Wallace Pack unit near College Station.
Approximately two-thirds of inmates housed throughout TDCJ facilities live in areas without air conditioning. Advocates and families of prisoners have fought for years to keep prisons cool in a state where summer temperatures routinely exceed triple digits, creating dangerous conditions for inmates and correctional officers.
The state has not reported any heat-related deaths since 2012, but researchers and inmates' families dispute those statistics.a 2022 survey They found that 14 prison deaths per year were related to heat. last year, Texas Tribune analysis At least 41 people were found to have died in prisons without air conditioning during the state's record heat wave.
Julie Scalha, an epidemiologist at Brown University who authored the 2022 study, told reporters Monday that health problems associated with excessive heat include kidney disease, cardiovascular mortality, respiratory disease and suicide. He said it includes.
Scalha said that while death certificates may not list heat stroke (inability to regulate body temperature) as the official cause of death, her research shows that many inmates die from heat-related causes. He said that it has been shown that this is the case.
„Fever deaths did not magically stop,“ the complaint states. “TDCJ simply stopped reporting and acknowledging them in the wake of multiple wrongful death lawsuits and national coverage.”
TDCJ spokeswoman Amanda Hernandez declined to comment on the lawsuit, saying the agency does not comment on pending litigation. However, she emphasized that the ministry has been installing more air conditioning equipment since 2018.
“We have been working on adding cooler beds every year and will continue to do so,” she said.
She also said the ministry'sEnhanced heating protocol” will be in place from April to October and will include providing ice water to inmates and making fans and cooling towels available for purchase at the commissary.
Lawyers argue these mitigation measures aren't enough to combat the state's sweltering temperatures. To beat the heat, inmates reported having to flood toilets and sinks and lie in water on the floor of their cells to cool down, according to the complaint.
„This is not an unexpected event,“ said Erica Grossman, one of the attorneys representing the plaintiffs. “Summers get hotter every year, but we keep our buildings cool, just like any other building in Texas, including buildings that house animals.”
Michele Deitch, a senior lecturer at the University of Texas at Austin School of Law and LBJ School, said TDCJ employees working at the facility are similarly affected by the heat. Extreme heat affects every aspect of prison life. Employees must wear heavy uniforms and perform manual labor in the heat. Heat increases violence among incarcerated people. And that could lead to more use of force against prisoners, she said.
TDCJ says in its heat mitigation protocols that staff are „encouraged to increase their fluid intake“ during the hot summer months and are allowed to wear cooling towels and dry-fit compression shirts.
A new study conducted by Scalha found that the number of assaults in prisons without air conditioning increased five times over the summer compared to assaults in air-conditioned facilities.
Prison rights advocates say the state could easily fund air conditioning throughout the prisons, but is simply unwilling to do so.During the last legislative session, when the state ran a record surplus, the House of Representatives Proposed spending of $545 million Install air conditioning in most prison facilities that do not have air conditioning. However, the final budget did not include funds for air conditioning.
The House of Representatives also passed invoice It requires keeping prisons at temperatures between 65 degrees and 85 degrees, which is already required in prisons and most federal facilities. But the bill died in the more conservative Senate.
„We have the resources. We don't seem to have the compassion to do it,“ the representative said. carl shamansaid the Democratic congressman from DeSoto at a press conference. Sherman was one of the authors of a bill regulating prison temperatures.
Congress has appropriated approximately $85 million for “additional deferred maintenance projects” for Texas prisons, and TDCJ use that money To pay for the air conditioner. Hernandez estimates those dollars could provide air conditioning for an estimated 10,000 inmates.
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