At Texas Monthly's website, Annie Melton reflects on the looming question: "Will a ruling on extreme conditions at the Louisiana State Penitentiary influence lawsuits pending in Texas?" She's talking about a federal court's ruling in favor of death row inmates in the Angola unit in Louisiana which may soon cause our Bayou State neighbors to "join the long, still-growing list of states that have established temperature regulations for their prisons," just like Texas requires for county jails. (See prior Grits coverage.)
The state prison system has asked the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which also includes Texas and Mississippi, to overturn the decision. Their appeal "is currently at the briefing stage within the Fifth
Circuit, and no ruling is expected until later this year." Many court watchers think their ruling in that suit will either govern the Texas cases or at least show which way the wind blows on the court regarding very similar claims.
Keep in mind, in 2012 the Fifth Circuit expressly allowed prison heat litigation in Texas to go forward, reversing the ruling of the trial judge and inspiring several more, similar suits at other Texas units. So, after greenlighting the Texas suits just two years ago, will the appellate court now shut those cases down or further them along with its coming ruling? Or, perhaps the court will affirm or overturn the district judge's ruling in a way that won't affect the Texas cases. ¿Quien sabe? Nothing is certain.
Still, judging from commentary from the bench during oral arguments at the Fifth Circuit in the Texas case, if I were TDCJ Chief Mugwump Brad Livingston, I think I'd be pricing air conditioners and the cost of installing and using them at dozens of Texas prison units, if not all of them. There's a decent chance that, by the time the Legislature meets next spring, Livingston will find himself facing some legislator in a committee hearing waving around a new decision from the Fifth Circuit and asking him how much it would cost.
I wonder if we'll see a lot more forced volunteering to stay in one of these Holiday Inns.
ReplyDeleteIt's not looking good for TDCJ. On the 18th of August a 57 year old female correctional officer was found dead in an outside un-air conditioned tower at the Luther Unit in Navasota, Texas. There was extremely hot conditions that afternoon she reported to work. It is believed heat was a factor. Is bad enough when the officers are dying too.
ReplyDeleteIm in an a/c cooled room and im sweating its about 95 or so sometime 100 its hot in Texas these days.
ReplyDeleteEven the officers are dying from the heat. No wonder TDCJ has a problem getting decent people to work as guards, no matter how much the beganing bonus is. Money is nothing compared to your life!!!!
ReplyDeleteI bet all the officers in Administration for the TDCJ have air conditioned offices!!!!!! This is a disgrace for Gov. Rick Perry who wants to run for President of the USA. When people see how his prison system kills people because they are bunched up in a non-air conditioned cell, the people will think twice about the kind of person he is and do not vote him into office!!!! People care about their loved ones, even tho they are inmates!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteIt gets harder, as we progress in to the 21st Century, to justify an early 20th Century Prison Environment.
ReplyDeleteYou are so so right 7:10 we still love them!!!!
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