Posted on 08/16/2016 11:46:38 AM PDT by massmike
In places like Louisiana and Texas, sweltering states where elected officials cherish tough-on-crime credentials, it is politically poisonous to be perceived as coddling prisoners. And many officials simply say that temperatures are not anywhere near as dire as prisoners and their lawyers claim.
A spokesman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, which is facing an array of lawsuits over the issue of jail temperatures, including a class-action case, said in a statement that “the well-being of staff and offenders is a top priority for the agency and we remain committed to making sure that both are safe during the extreme heat.”
The disputes surrounding the climate of modern incarceration can be partly traced to 1981, when the Supreme Court concluded that “the Constitution does not mandate comfortable prisons.” About 35 years later, states, counties and cities are interpreting the court’s words in their own ways.
In Texas, state regulations require that temperatures in county jails “shall be reasonably maintained between 65 degrees Fahrenheit and 85 degrees Fahrenheit in all occupied areas.” But that standard does not apply to state prisons.
“Once these buildings heat up in the summertime, they never really do ever cool back down again,” Keith M. Cole, a plaintiff in the Texas class-action case, said at the Navasota prison where he is serving a life sentence for murder and is being treated for heart disease, diabetes and hypertension. “Air-conditioning to me wouldn’t be a comfort. It’s a necessity — it’s a medical necessity.”
“In the South, almost everybody has air-conditioning,” said Jeffrey S. Edwards, a lawyer for Mr. Cole. “This isn’t a luxury anymore. Almost everyone has it, except for these inmates.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
The standard is cruel and unusual.
If it’s entirely usual....
Evaporative coolers only work in low humidity climates. There are not very many of those in Texas or Louisiana.
BS - I grew up in Texas and didn’t have AC until my last two years of high school. That is from elementary to high school, no AC.
Shucky darn.
They will in West Texas. Saving money there will offset costs in other areas if it’s done at all.
” homemade tattoo guns.”
Danielle says call them machines, not guns!
Pet them pedal a bike to generate their daily electricity...
big o'l smiley face
Too bad. It’s hot in hell.
I also grew up in Texas without air conditioning, as did five generations of my Texas ancestors before me. I am not saying that air conditioning is a necessity. It is not. I am just saying that evaporative coolers are not a viable option here.
Air conditioning did not even exist until around 1910.
I went to public school in the 1970s with NO air conditioning at all. On super hot days they would let us out early at 1 or 2pm.
How did prisoners cope before 1900?
I say take away their cable TV AND exercise equipment.
Prison is SUPPOSED to be punishment.
Mine did.Summer School,double punishment.
Slice it dice it however I will never feel sorry for convicted criminals until proven innocent.
Just me.
They worked great for me. They would blow cool moist air and felt great.
What part of Texas? I grew up in Central Texas. Even your sweat will not evaporate when the humidity is 90%.
No TV in Texas prisons, you can buy a radio if you demonstrate good behavior.
Many Texas prisons are also in rural areas so not much to listen to even if you have one.
Del Rio, San Antonio and San Marcos
When was that not the case?...prisons without AC in Texas is like being confined to a “hot-box” you see in prison camp movies. It can get to well over 100 degrees, health-threatening.
In February?
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