Florida's death row inmates say they can't take the heat - Get out of the kitchen alert?

Associated Press ^ | August 11, 2002 | Associated Press Staff

[Willie Green]

Keeping people in cells with so little ventilation seems mighty cruel to me. Why not install fans? And if the electrical system needs beefing up, it should be done. These are supposed to be prisons, not torture chambers.

Thank-you for contributing a sane and civil response to this thread.

[floriduh voter]

I heard that Raiford has a very nice law library. Maybe they can find case law to an early release or find a prison loophole.

In any case, most libraries are air conditioned so I recommend that inmates start one of Jeb Bush's Just Read, Florida programs. Then they'll keep cool and learn something too. FV

[floriduh voter]

Apparently, the inmates don't know that prisons are supposed to be like dungeons. You do the crime you do the time. 85% of their sentences, thanks to Charlie Crist. I'm voting for him for AG. I met him. He helped reduce Florida's crime rate IMO.

[JoeFromCA]

Death row appeals should be expedited so that guilty inmates can be promptly executed. If our judicial system is unwilling or unable to accomplish that, prisoners should be held in minimum humane conditions. Humane conditions would not include air conditioning, but would include a cell where temperatures don't regularly reach 100-110 degrees.

Most of these inmate law suits are frivolous, but we weaken the argument for the death penalty by suggesting that inmates should be subjected to inhumane conditions prior to execution. I don't know if the inmates claims are factually accurate, but if they are the judge should require better conditions.

If you haven't been in Florida in the summer, you don't know what hot is.

OK, go ahead and flame me.

[krb]

I agree with you.

Plus the purpose of the lengthy appeals process is to make sure errors in the judicial system (both procedural and practical) are minimized; some are caught early, some are caught later, hopefully there are very few not caught.

Some of those 329 people are going to be let go because of a technicality, and some are going to be let go because they are innocent. I therefore disagree with the notion that they should have to live out their appeals in this awful fashion.

My vengence at the many guilty parties does not outweigh the pit in my stomach for the few innocents in there.

[cubreporter]

What about their victims lying in coffins six feet under??? Do they get to complain too?????

[E.Allen]

Since they're on death row, isn't the prison just trying to condition them for the MUCH higher temperatures in Hell?

[MeekOneGOP]

Florida's death row inmates say they can't
take the heat - Get out of the kitchen alert?

Please let me know if you want ON or OFF my Florida ping list!. . .don't be shy.

[speekinout]

I hope the prisoners win. Keeping people in cells with so little ventilation seems mighty cruel to me.

This is *death row*, How kind do you think these creatures (sorry, I can't call them people) were to their victims?
Do you want to keep them in luxury? There are a lot of law abiding citizens who don't have air-conditioning. Do they also need cable tv and gourmet meals?

[Tennessee_Bob]

Of the 329 death-sentenced prisoners on Jan. 22,

Well, I see 329 ways to get rid of these complaints real quick.

[pray4liberty]

I vote for some air conditioning, but keep it at around 80 degrees. Otherwise they'd complain of goosebumps.

Can't they get their family members to buy them a battery-operated fan?

[Mfkmmof4]

I have a better idea live a good life and avoid being arrested.

[FReepaholic]

>>...Florida death row inmates say temperatures that routinely top 100 degrees in their cells ...<<

Hey fellas', look at it this way: we're getting you guys acclimated to where you're going after you die.

[stainlessbanner]

we're getting you guys acclimated to where you're going after you die.

Now that's funny!

[dennisw]

Florida's death row inmates say they can't take the heat - Get out of the kitchen alert?

They should stop making so many frivolous appeals. Then they would get executed a lot sooner. Voila! Problem solved!

[strela]

Humane conditions would not include air conditioning, but would include a cell where temperatures don't regularly reach 100-110 degrees.

People managed to survive in Florida for a long, long time before air conditioning was invented. The inmates already have access to water and towels - with those, anyone can keep their own core temperature at a level that is not dangerous to life. If the inmates didn't want to be incarcerated in a hot environment, they should have gone to Minnesota to commit their crimes (or even, frankly, not committed any crime at all).

Sorry, but this lawsuit is a non-starter. Let 'em sweat - these Death Row inmates will have nothing but fond memories of the balmy Florida weather when they get to their final destination.

[GailA]

Heck Memphis city schools weren't all air conditioned until THIS YEAR. Yet our death row inmates have air conditioned cells, where they can set up paint easels and paint with oil paints. One women's prison has weekend visits by the kiddies over night, real high class nusery and playroom for the kiddies and their moms.

[strela]

One women's prison has weekend visits by the kiddies over night, real high class nusery and playroom for the kiddies and their moms.

And Clint Eastwood says "dyin' ain't much of a livin'" (smirk) ;)

[GailA]

Tennessee; under the McWherter administration; death row inmates had their own private satellite TV dish and all meals catered by a high class Nashville hotel. Gov. Sundquist pulled the plug...the inmates sued; its removal was cruel and unusual punish-ment. July 1977, Memphian, Debroah Groseclose was atrociously murdered in a murder for hire by her husband William, he got the death penalty, 18 years later news scenes show him painting roses in his cell. (UP DATE DUE TO A RETRIAL HE IS NOW SERVING Life With Parole) A special on women in State prisons showed one woman's cell with a overstuffed easy chair, TV and pop top canned foods lining the cross bars of her cell. Lids so sharp they could cut the throat of a guard. It would seem prison officials care more for inmate comforts, that they chose to ignore the safety of the guards!

Morgan County Regional Correctional Facility offerers inmates 6 vocational and 4 levels of academic education, built a new building to house the growing programs, at $1.5 million. Many Memphis schools lack air conditioning and have ceiling tiles falling on the heads of our kids. County and City school systems are constantly hurting for funds. Your property taxes might have to be raised to pay for the repairs. It's perverse to reward criminals with golf courses or 50 inch TVs and punish our kids with crumbling schools.

Inmate Rules and Regulations 1992, Activities, Tn Dept.of Correction feels that all inmates should have the opportunity to participate in activities which will help to cre-ate enthusiasm, both mentally and physical, through activities as approved by the facility /organization. Not all activities are available at all institutions or to all inmates. Custody, Classification, length of sentence, behavior, etc. may restrict participation. Those activities include: Inmate Organizations: any group or club authorized to conduct bus-iness and/or social activities by the department/institution; Outside Trips Participation in public events, speaking engagements, athletic events, mutual programs; Interinstitutional Activities: Athletic events/competitions, banquets, & mutual programs; Academic Pro-gram: Adult Basic Education, GED; Vocational Programs; Social Development Program: Planned, purposeful activities designed to promote the inmate's social adjustment and assist in resolving personal or interpersonal problems; Arts & Crafts; Inmate Council: elected group of inmates which meet regularly with wardens and other department employees to communicate suggestions and concerns from the inmate population, and to receive information from the administration concerning issues of interest to the inmates; Recreation & leisure time programs are available at each institution. We hope that you choose to participate in the wide variety of programs available to you. No wonder 75% of inmates are repeat offenders returning to prison for a little R & R! If Geneva Conven-tion Standards are good enough for our military then they're good enough for common felons.

Leading criminologist John DiIulio of Princeton states "At least 40% of prison expenses go to rehabilitation programs and inmate amenities that have little bearing on institutional security, and that far exceed basic standards of human dignity. Roughly speaking prisons cost nearly twice as much as they should. The intellectual and bureau-ratic forces that have turned prisons into resorts; are deeply entrenched, they won't be changed unless there's a loud, persistent and politically pointed public outcry."

Ah! the Life of Riley can be had FREE in our prisons. Let your Legislators know what you feel about your tax dollars being used for perks for felons, after all it's still your tax dollar they're spending. You're just a heartbeat away from being the next homicide victim. The State legislature recently removed ice cream machines and cable TV;

[Dacus943]

"Florida death row inmates say temperatures that routinely top 100 degrees in their cells force them to stand in toilets, drape themselves in wet towels and sleep naked on concrete floors."

People this is truely Barbaric treatment of these DEATH ROW INMATES!

I suggest that they immediately be given the same climate control environment that their MURDERED VICTIMS enjoy!