Keith Cole, 62, who is serving a life sentence for a 1994 murder, is a plaintiff in a Texas class-action lawsuit claiming that high temperatures in prisons are inhumane.
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 ...
Keith Cole, 62, who is serving a life sentence for a 1994 murder, is a plaintiff in a Texas class-action lawsuit claiming that high temperatures in prisons are inhumane.
As much as a law-and-order person as I am, 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.
I can see having AC in a prison’s medical facility for at risk older/elderly inmates or those to whom extreme heat could be deadly - otherwise, nope.
I took a peek into a jail in South America/ Colombia once. Believe me, these guys are in Shangri-La. Those folks had to have outsiders bring them FOOD if they wanted to eat, etc.
It cracks me up that public housing where I live has heat pump air conditioning. That should be a perk you get if you actually earn your living.
The prisons are as comfortable as at any time in US history. Nothing has changed. Nothing needs to.
...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.
How about our boys in Iraq or in the gulf on blacktop flight deck? How do they deal with their “hot box?”
Blame it on John Kerry. He claims A/C is a threat to the planet. Just doin’ their bit for the cause, doncha know.
Save the Earth!
Turn off the air conditioning in all prisons!
It’s a moral imperative!
They watch TV ten hours a day and make homemade tattoo guns. If they were out on the chain gang 12 hours a day in the summer heat, I might be inclined to say that a little A/C for comfortable sleeping at night is in order.
Otherwise...NO.
Luke: ...the box.
Carr: I hope you ain't going to be a hard case.
No more than in my grade school and high school in the 50’s.
Screw these pigs
Too Bad tough S#!T
Cant do the time don’t do the crime.
Except they don’t work worth a darn in the climates discussed in the article.
Excellent, both of you!
But John Kerry says that air conditioning is a greater threat than terrorists. Why should poor incarcerated criminals be exposed to such danger?
Yep. Evaporative coolers only work in low humidity climates. There are not very many of those in Texas or Louisiana.
Nope. I work in 100 degree plus heat running a machine. No ac for me and my health is suffering. Screw you if you are in jail sitting on your butt in the heat. If you have a problem with it maybe you shoulda thunk it over before you did what got you there. I cut steel and it’s hot, my metal working brothers in heat treat, welding, and foundry work got it worse, and they are are making a living not feeding off the system like this parasite.
Soon they won’t have to worry about A/C. obama is going to release all BLM types once they get obamalaw.That should clear out most of the prisons.
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