The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has recognized time and again that extreme heat in prisons can constitute a violation of inmates’ Eighth Amendment rights. In a 2012 case, a 63 year old Texas prisoner presented with a preexisting blood pressure condition, and was taking medication that would affect his body’s ability to regulate temperature. The court decided that a reasonable jury could conclude that a failure to provide air conditioning, among other things, to an individual with these conditions was a violation of the prisoner’s constitutional rights. Most recently, the Middle District of Louisiana issued a decision in 2013 condemning the extreme heat conditions in a Louisiana prison facility similar to those conditions present in TDCJ facilities as a violation of the Constitution. There is therefore clear and recent precedent for denouncing the hot conditions in TDCJ facilities as violating the guarantees and rights of inmates under the Eighth Amendment.On page ten of the report there's a TDCJ temperature log from the Hutchins unit indicating that temperatures reached 114 degrees Fahrenheit and the "heat index" at mid-day reached as high as 149-150 degrees. According to the report, "almost half of TDCJ facilities are built with outer walls that are either partially or fully constructed from metal. Temperatures in these metal-constructed facilities are consistently higher than ambient temperatures or temperatures in concrete facilities. Inmates housed in these facilities have no way of escaping the heat, and are placed at risk of suffering heatstroke as a result."
The report recommends implementing standards similar to those promulgated by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards for county jails, where Sheriffs are required to keep jails below 85 degrees Fahrenheit, or nearly 30 degrees lower than the highest temperature documented at the Hutchins unit in the TDCJ log mentioned above. Those interested should read the whole report.
After the federal court ruling in a Louisiana case last year and the 5th Circuit's ruling that Texas can be sued on the topic, Grits expects TDCJ to ultimately lose the pending heat litigation and for the Legislature to eventually find itself forced to implement significant mitigation measures to reduce heat exposure of inmates and guards. It won't be popular but if the 5th Circuit rules like they did in Louisiana, they won't have a choice.
MORE: From the Houston Chronicle, the Austin Statesman and the Texas Tribune, as well as a column by HouChron columnist Lisa Falkenberg. AND MORE: From the Austin Chronicle, which points out TDCJ's ironic advice to employees on keeping pets safe in the heat while they're at work, noting that "The same level of care is not considered for Texas inmates."
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20 comments:
Boo hoo, boo hoo!
@2:20 - It'll be TDCJ crying if the federal litigation succeeds like it did in Louisiana.
I wish the federal government had been as concerned about keeping me cool when I served in Kuwait and Iraq as they are for a bunch of criminals. This is one effed up country, man!
Except you volunteered, 6:34. The Eighth Amendment didn't apply to you.
@6:34 You were forced to enlist, to further enforce these ideals of this "effed up country"?
I looked at that temperature chart for the state jail in Hutchins. Recorded temperatures for that day were 100 degrees. This chart is grossly exaggerated. Bunch of lying liberal bastards.
Hey anon 10:25... Liberals support more education so people like you can learn to read. The report is talking about a 149 degree HEAT INDEX... Not the actual temperature.
@10:25, it was TDCJ that did the recording, are they "lying liberal bastards"?
...and how many years have they been fighting the heat in prisons? ...and how much of taxpayers money has been spent to fight it? It's certain more taxpayer money will be spent fighting a losing battle when the money could have been used to correct the situation. When you have deep pockets full of taxpayer money, who cares how much it costs?
@8:08, I think most of those incarcerated did, in fact, "volunteer" to be there too---no one made them commit their crime. Here's a novel concept for you--don't become a criminal and you don't have to worry about going to the pen (or the lack of air conditioning)!
When people commit crimes that endanger the life and safety of others, then they generally deserve to go to prison. Most of them are people I don’t want to meet in a dark alley at night. Being sent to prison, losing your freedom, being separated from your family and your community, being unable to earn a living, being told where to go and what to do 24/7/365 IS the punishment. Criminals get that. Moreover, no one has EVER mistaken Texas prisons as country club estates. The food meets the MINIMUM requirements for humans, you certainly don’t have plush Serta mattresses to sleep on, and your neighbors tend to be robbers, murderers, rapists and thieves. That is punishment enough. While we certainly don’t owe them air conditioning at 72 degrees in the prison buildings, we don’t have to leave them in lethal heat, either. Treating them like dirt doesn’t make them better people. It makes them bitter, and they WILL be coming out one of these days. Moreover, people and politicians need to remember the Ruiz decision. If you don’t do what’s right up front, then you will pay out the nose in the end. This is not a liberal or conservative issue; it's common sense.
The data shows that the air temperature was 114 degrees Fahrenheit while the humidity was 65%. That's where the heat index number comes from.
That temperature reading could be a mistake; it looks like an outlier. Regardless, the temperatures in summers in most of Texas easily reach the mid or high 90s. If the relative humidity is above 40%, then the heat index would be in the hundreds.
It could potentially save money to add some kind of climate control to the prisons, because then we would be paying less for heat-related illness for staff and prisoners.
When, exactly, did this notion come up that because you forcibly remove a criminal from society that they are entitled to some minimum standard of living that's likely better than most poor people in this country? This is exactly the type of misinterpretation of the Eighth Amendment that creates hostility in the minds of many toward our federal courts. As we prioritize the allocation of finite government resources (I know, I know, with a 16 trillion dollar federal debt no one really gives a damn anymore) it would seem to me that incarcerated criminals should be at the very bottom of the distribution ladder. Something is ultimately going to have to give and it's not going to be choosing not to incarcerate those who make a conscious decision not to follow the law. It will be a choice not to furnish them with the amenities that the bleeding hearts want to give them.
Steve ~ a voice of sanity.
Anons ~ you can't see the wood for the trees. Like so many when it comes to criminal justice and TDCJ in Texas, you are so focused on retribution against the inmates, you fail to consider everyone else affected in the situation. Heat regulation will benefit the guards and other security and civilian staff at the prisons AS WELL. The way you all talk, it sounds like you are happy to see them roast as well, when they are doing you a favour taking a job you would never do (thankfully).
I wonder if old school tech could be utilized to create an environment both the captured audience and those charged with security could live and work in?
Swamp Coolers are very cheap to construct & maintain. We made our own personal versions with a fan tied to one end of a bunkbed and a dripping cloth placed on the front so the air would seem like it wasn't an oven. Misters could be placed throughout the units. Both are very cheap vs. R22 and R410 monsters units. But to do nothing, now that's gotta be a crime in itself.
For all of you who seem to think those incarcerated are treated great. Its ridiculous. They cannot leave they are there and the heat is horrible. They need more cooling areas.I worked for TDCJ and can tell you inmates are not the only ones who suffer. Many inmates just want to do their time. The heat is unbearable.
So the inmates rights are being violated. Big freakin deal. What about the rights of all the officers who work without A/C and yes, we all know the employees made their choice by going to work for TDCJ. Well here is a reality check, so did the inmates who are locked up. They made their choice by committing the crimes they did to end up in the system. Here is a project for you UT students! Let's see what TDCJ Employees have to endure on a daily basis working on a prison facility. But I doubt your little minds could handle that project. Bunch of Idiots!!!!!
Just FYI, the report did include employees. Your attack on the UT students is shortsided. Maybe you should have read the report first. It's an excellent investigative piece with great legal insight.
I agree.One should not comment on an article unless they have read it.
Some of you have no compassion at all.
"To deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity." Nelson Mandela
ther was another death of an inmate in the scott unit just today the inmate had just got off his job in the kitchen sit down at a table layed his head down on the table and died..don't know the cause of death but i bet the heat played a big part, my heart goes out to the family of this man nobody knows until they have been in the same shoes.
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