Texas heat has killed prisoners and cost the state millions in wrongful death and civil rights lawsuits. Prison rights advocates hope a budget surplus next year will finally push lawmakers to invest in air conditioning.
also enacted new policies
The agency has said the policies are working, reporting 11 prisoner heat illnesses and 16 for staff last year and only 12 heat-related illnesses for prisoners and 21 for staff this year through last week. Beyond the courts, substantial change lies in the hands of the Texas Legislature. Texas county jails are required to be cooled to at least 85 degrees, but state lawmakers have previously rejected proposals to air condition state prisons after seeing the expected price tag. TDCJ has
During his first nine years in prison, serving a 40-year sentence for aggravated robbery, Segovia was in an air-conditioned cell at the Michael Unit, about 90 miles north of his new prison in Midway. When he learned he was being moved to Ferguson, a notoriously stifling prison, he thought at first other men were exaggerating. He’d worked in construction and warehouses in Texas — he knew heat.
“I fainted four times in my cell and no reports were filed and I received no medical attention,” one prisoner at the Scott Unit in Brazoria County wrote to researchers. “When investigating a heat-related grievance, steps are taken to verify and ensure that all temperature mitigation measures in [policy], such as access to respite areas, cold showers, ice water, and fans are being followed,” she said.who supervise prisoners. Segovia said he went entire days without an officer bringing him the required ice water because he was on the highest and hottest tier. Sometimes, he didn’t even blame them.
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