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
      3·
      3 days ago

      Feels relevant to say that this practice was covered on Star Trek: Deep Space 9 in S2E15’s Paradise. Heat stroke is no joke, it doesn’t just feel awful, it can kill. Those sadistic freaks are both too incompetent and uncaring to at least organize the work details so that people aren’t killed by the Sun while labouring.