A federal judge’s finding that extreme heat in Texas prisons is unconstitutional could lead to the state being ordered to spend billions to install air conditioning to cool them off.

But U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman’s warnings to Texas to act after finding the conditions in the prison system unconstitutional could resonate elsewhere in the U.S. where similar challenges are ongoing, according to attorneys leading the Texas case and other prisoner advocates.

Texas is just one of several states, mostly in the South, facing lawsuits over prison conditions when temperatures often rise above 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.7 Celsius). In Louisiana, a group of men incarcerated at a state penitentiary this week again asked a federal judge to take steps to protect prisoners doing outdoor agricultural labor in dangerous heat.

  • Komodo Rodeo@lemmy.world
    50·
    3 days ago

    But U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman’s warnings to Texas to act after finding the conditions in the prison system unconstitutional could resonate elsewhere in the U.S.

    narrator voice “It did not, in fact, resonate. Prisoners continued to bake alive in their concrete ovens of cells during days where temperatures reached or exceeded 100° F. Guards, Police, and state legislators were observed to comment that ‘they deserved it’ for committing low-level crimes, while laughing.”