Lawyers for the plaintiffs say they hope and expect to prove that the state’s refusal to install air conditioning in its prisons is tantamount to cruel and unusual punishment.
A federal judge has found that the lack of air conditioning in sweltering Texas prisons is “plainly unconstitutional,” yet failed to issue any order instructing the state Department of Justice to install temporary or permanent air conditioning facilities.
Instead, U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman’s 91-page decision will push the case closer to trial.
In his ruling, Pitman said that he expects the lawsuit to move to a bench trial and instructed attorneys for the plaintiffs and defendants to submit a proposed timeline for legal proceedings on or by April 10.
Although Pitman’s ruling will not offer any immediate relief to Texas inmates, Marci Marie Simmons—one of the plaintiffs, as well as a former inmate—told the Texas Tribune that ruling still constitutes good news.
“This is a federal judge saying Texas is unconstitutionally housing people in these dangerous and deadly temperatures,” Simmons said. “I cried. I cried for my people on the inside.”
In a separate statement, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice said that it “appreciates and respects” Pitman’s decision; the agency also emphasized that it is committed to installing air conditioning facilities in Texas state prisons.
“TDCJ is fully committed to the safety of the inmate population and our staff, and that commitment is reflected in TDCJ’s ongoing efforts to install air conditioning, identify inmates who are heat sensitive, and implement heat mitigation protocols,” the Texas Department of Criminal Justice said in a statement. “TDCJ also very much appreciates the past and planned support of the Legislature in making funding available to continue TDCJ’s ongoing installation of air conditioning in more units and areas throughout the TDCJ system.”
Lawyers for the plaintiffs say they hope and expect to prove that the state’s refusal to install air conditioning in its prisons is tantamount to cruel and unusual punishment.
“What we are doing is overheating the body for long periods of time, which is detrimental to the body,” said Amite Dominick, the founder of the plaintiff-organization Texas Prison Community Advocates. “We’re literally cooking them.”
“People don’t live when you cook them,” Dominick told the Tribune.
The district court has repeatedly found that Texas’s heat mitigation procedures are inadequate, citing reports that “dozens” of inmates have either died or fallen seriously ill from extreme-heat-related conditions.
Pitman acknowledged that the Department of Criminal Justice performs screenings to identify inmates likely to be sensitive to heat, but said that these measures are “arbitrary,” noting that a “90-year-old with hypertension” or a person with seizure disorder wouldn’t qualify for air-conditioned housing.
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