Extreme Heat: Another Death Sentence in Texas Jails

AFP/APP

Texas : Prison cells in Texas have become so unbearably hot that inmates resort to splashing themselves with toilet water. Some jails are described as ovens where convicts are essentially “baked to death.”

An advocacy group is suing the state of Texas, demanding air conditioning for tens of thousands of inmates, arguing that temperatures, reaching 120 degrees Fahrenheit (49 Celsius) as reported by prisoners, are cruel and unconstitutional.

The lawsuit, filed by Texas Prisons Community Advocates, comes after three inmate deaths in 2023, which officials partly attributed to extreme heat.

Patrick Womack, 50, died after being denied a cold water bath.

John Castillo, 32, who had epilepsy, fetched water 23 times before dying with a body temperature above 105.8 degrees Fahrenheit.

Elizabeth Hagerty, 37, warned prison officials that her obesity and diabetes increased her risk of heat stroke, just days before her death.

“In Texas, every summer we get triple-digit weather, high humidity, and lose lives,” said Amite Dominick, the group’s director, speaking to AFP. “Because we are baking people in that brick building.”

A Matter of Survival

As temperatures rise in the southern United States, exacerbated by global warming, inmates’ families fear whether their loved ones will survive another summer.

With only a third of the state’s 134,000 inmates having access to adequate air conditioning, Dominick’s group is urging US District Court Judge Robert Pitman to require Texas to maintain temperatures between 65 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit in prison cells.

The excessive heat and humidity cause inmates to become more aggressive, leading to increased violence, suicide attempts, and trauma, which ultimately affect their communities. “We see both assault numbers and aggressive behavior in general, as well as suicide rates, increasing every summer,” Dominick explained. “It really is a matter of surviving each summer.”

She added, “Ninety-five percent of these individuals are coming home. The question is, what condition will they be in when they return to our communities?”