Free Republic

A federal judge on Tuesday ordered Texas to install air conditioning in all of its prisons, saying that inmates in lockups without it are being given punishments that violate their constitutional rights. U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman said in the 150-page order that the Texas Department of Criminal Justice must come up with a plan to install air conditioning by the end of 2029 in every prison in the state where summer heat routinely soars above 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius). He ruled that a lack of air conditioning violates the constitutional right not to be given “cruel and...

30-year Texas prison battle ends Books closed on Ruiz suit that forced court oversight, reforms 06/08/2002 By ED TIMMS / The Dallas Morning News Federal oversight of Texas' prison system, which led to sweeping reforms and contributed to an unprecedented prison construction boom, effectively ended Friday. U.S. District Judge William Wayne Justice, who concluded in 1980 that confinement in Texas prisons constituted cruel and unusual punishment, was told Friday by attorneys representing inmates that they did not plan to contest the termination of the landmark civil rights case. The case, which started with a lawsuit filed on behalf of David...