• Two Lawsuits Challenge the Lack of Air-Conditioning in Texas Prisons
    35 replies, posted
[quote]AUSTIN, Tex. — In the brutal heat of summer, many Texans flee to shopping malls, movie theaters and other air-conditioned havens to keep cool. But for one segment of the population, there is literally no escape from triple-digit temperatures: state prison inmates. Only 21 of the 111 prisons overseen by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, the state prison agency, are fully air-conditioned. Many of the prisons that do have air-conditioning in areas where medical services or educational programs are provided to inmates do not offer it in the sections where they live. Inmates and their families have complained for years about the heat and lack of air-conditioning in the summertime, but the issue has taken on a new urgency. An appeal is pending in a lawsuit initially filed in 2008 by a former inmate claiming that 54 prisoners were exposed to Death Valley-like conditions at a South Texas prison where the heat index exceeded 126 degrees for 10 days indoors. And several inmates at other prisons died of heat-related causes last summer; a lawsuit was filed Tuesday in one of those deaths. Texas has long had a reputation for running some of the toughest prisons in the country, but inmates and their advocates say the overheated conditions violate the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. They accuse prison officials of failing to supply enough fans, ventilation and water and refusing to follow local and national prison standards. A Texas law requires county jails to maintain temperature levels between 65 and 85 degrees, but the law does not apply to state prisons. The American Correctional Association recommends that temperature and humidity be mechanically raised or lowered to acceptable levels. “The Constitution doesn’t require a comfortable prison, but it requires a safe and humane prison,” said Scott Medlock, director of the prisoners’ rights program at the Texas Civil Rights Project, which is representing the former South Texas inmate who sued prison officials. “Housing prisoners in these temperatures is brutal.” A prison agency spokesman, Jason Clark, said that many prison units were built before air-conditioning was commonly installed, and that many others built later in the 1980s and 1990s did not include air-conditioning because of the additional construction, maintenance and utility costs. Retrofitting prisons with air-conditioning would be extremely expensive, he said. As a result, the agency takes a number of steps to assist inmates, Mr. Clark said, and he disputed the criticisms of inmates and their lawyers about inadequate fans, water and ventilation. On hot summer days, he said, prison officials restrict outside activity, provide frequent water breaks, allow additional showers, permit inmates to wear shorts and increase airflow by using blowers normally used to move warm air in the winter. “The agency is committed to making sure that all are safe during the extreme heat,” Mr. Clark said in a statement. Despite those measures, four inmates — Larry Gene McCollum, 58; Alexander Togonidze, 44; Michael David Martone, 57; and Kenneth Wayne James, 52 — died last summer from heat stroke or hyperthermia, according to autopsy reports and the authorities. Advocates for inmate rights believe that at least five others died from heat-related causes last summer. On Tuesday, the Texas Civil Rights Project and an Austin lawyer filed a wrongful-death lawsuit in federal court on behalf of Mr. McCollum’s wife, son and daughter. They accused prison officials of causing his death by keeping him in the sweltering Hutchins State Jail outside Dallas, where he had a seizure around 2 a.m. on July 22 and fell from his bunk bed. When Mr. McCollum, who weighed 345 pounds and had hypertension, arrived at a Dallas hospital, his body temperature was 109.4 degrees. He died six days later. The cause of death was hyperthermia, the autopsy report said. Mr. McCollum was “in a hot environment without air-conditioning, and he may have been further predisposed to developing hyperthermia due to morbid obesity” and use of a diuretic for hypertension, the report noted. “For this to happen to any human being is beyond my belief,” said Mr. McCollum’s son, Stephen, 30, at a news conference in Austin announcing the lawsuit. “There’s pets in pounds that have better conditions.” [/quote] [url]http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/27/us/two-lawsuits-challenge-the-lack-of-air-conditioning-in-texas-prisons.html?_r=2&ref=us[/url] The people behind this should be sent to death valley.
inb4 "They deserve it!" [highlight](User was banned for this post ("Meme reply - again" - Craptasket))[/highlight]
They deserve it!
take it from a texan that this shit is abuse
I worked in corrections in Texas, I have many friends who actually work in state prisons. Guess what guys, the prison guards are in the same shit the inmates are in. They don't get AC. They don't get to chill out in a control room, they're on the floor with all the inmates constantly moving, transporting and doing their daily duties. It isn't like it is 110+, it is just hot and humid at times. Hell the jail i worked at had AC and it was still hot and muggy. I had to deal with it every day in full BDU's and duty gear, they can handle it imo. Prisons cost enough money, add the cost of AC (electricity costs a lot in Texas) and they're going to go over budget quickly. I don't feel bad for them in any shape or form, they did something to get themselves there.
[QUOTE=MR-X;36535742]I worked in corrections in Texas, I have many friends who actually work in state prisons. Guess what guys, the prison guards are in the same shit the inmates are in. They don't get AC. They don't get to chill out in a control room, they're on the floor with all the inmates constantly moving, transporting and doing their daily duties. It isn't like it is 110+, it is just hot and humid at times. Hell the jail i worked at had AC and it was still hot and muggy. I had to deal with it every day in full BDU's and duty gear, they can handle it imo. Prisons cost enough money, add the cost of AC (electricity costs a lot in Texas) and they're going to go over budget quickly. I don't feel bad for them in any shape or form, they did something to get themselves there.[/QUOTE] American prisons are already pushing the boundaries of being little more than glorified gulags, the attitude of "throw them in jail, who cares what happens when they're in there" is a major issue.
A cheap solution would be to use swamp coolers. They wouldn't be very efficient due to the high humidity, but they're cheap and don't cost much more to operate than a belted gym fan.
[QUOTE=Sgt-NiallR;36535784]American prisons are already pushing the boundaries of being little more than glorified gulags, the attitude of "throw them in jail, who cares what happens when they're in there" is a major issue.[/QUOTE] I really hope you're joking. I don't know what prisons are like where you live, but where I live "glorified gulags" has got to be the absolute last thing I'd use to describe them, I'd say a more accurate term would be "tax funded three star hotels".
[QUOTE=MR-X;36535742]I worked in corrections in Texas, I have many friends who actually work in state prisons. Guess what guys, the prison guards are in the same shit the inmates are in. They don't get AC. They don't get to chill out in a control room, they're on the floor with all the inmates constantly moving, transporting and doing their daily duties. It isn't like it is 110+, it is just hot and humid at times. Hell the jail i worked at had AC and it was still hot and muggy. I had to deal with it every day in full BDU's and duty gear, they can handle it imo. Prisons cost enough money, add the cost of AC (electricity costs a lot in Texas) and they're going to go over budget quickly. I don't feel bad for them in any shape or form, they did something to get themselves there.[/QUOTE] perhaps if texas focused more on rehabilitation instead of punishment and execution we wouldn't have this problem.
[QUOTE=asteroidrules;36538434]I really hope you're joking. I don't know what prisons are like where you live, but where I live "glorified gulags" has got to be the absolute last thing I'd use to describe them, I'd say a more accurate term would be "tax funded three star hotels".[/QUOTE] Yeah I remember my last holiday in a three star hotel. I was gang raped and stabbed, with no AC and without the option to leave early or have complaints taken seriously! Good times, man. [editline]28th June 2012[/editline] Does nobody remember this? Pretty interesting story of a prisoner. [url]http://www.facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=999843[/url]
Coming from someone who's lived in Texas for the past 7 years, that is torture. It goes up to 108 at it's highest. But it's usually 100 from like 11-6 every day. On top of that it can get really humid. I live where my attic use to be, and trust me. My room temperature of like 85 is torture, without AC.
Nobody should have to boil to death in prison because the state is too cheap to keep things at a reasonable temperature. Texas should just vote to have them all shot instead of killing them slowly with heat and sharply rationed food.
[QUOTE=asteroidrules;36538434]I really hope you're joking. I don't know what prisons are like where you live, but where I live "glorified gulags" has got to be the absolute last thing I'd use to describe them, I'd say a more accurate term would be "tax funded three star hotels".[/QUOTE] Privatised prisons, which don't even have air conditions to save money. I wouldn't go to a hotel like that, three star or not.
as someone who lives in texas, I'm never going to break the law ever
I don't think cost should be the driving factor for whether, or not, inmates are treated like human beings. If money is the problem, then perhaps consider closing some prisons and ease up on non-violent offenders.
[QUOTE=ChristopherB;36542081]I don't think cost should be the driving factor for whether, or not, inmates are treated like human beings. If money is the problem, then perhaps consider closing some prisons and ease up on non-violent offenders.[/QUOTE]Can't close prisons due to overcrowding in prisons. Easing up on nonviolent offenders would be the logical thing to do and therefore will not be done.
[QUOTE=MR-X;36535742]I worked in corrections in Texas, I have many friends who actually work in state prisons. Guess what guys, the prison guards are in the same shit the inmates are in. They don't get AC. They don't get to chill out in a control room, they're on the floor with all the inmates constantly moving, transporting and doing their daily duties. It isn't like it is 110+, it is just hot and humid at times. Hell the jail i worked at had AC and it was still hot and muggy. I had to deal with it every day in full BDU's and duty gear, they can handle it imo. Prisons cost enough money, add the cost of AC (electricity costs a lot in Texas) and they're going to go over budget quickly. I don't feel bad for them in any shape or form, they did something to get themselves there.[/QUOTE] The guards suffering too doesn't justify the prisoners suffering.
[QUOTE=asteroidrules;36538434]I really hope you're joking. I don't know what prisons are like where you live, but where I live "glorified gulags" has got to be the absolute last thing I'd use to describe them, I'd say a more accurate term would be "tax funded three star hotels".[/QUOTE] idk how many 3 star hotels you've been to but generally when i stay at a 3 star hotel i'm not living under threat of being raped or stabbed daily
[QUOTE=koeniginator;36542032]as someone who lives in texas, I'm never going to break the law ever[/QUOTE] I would like to hope the simple fear of heat isn't the only thing keeping you from committing a crime :v:
Come to Tent City sometime, you'll love it. [img]http://www.nmnewsandviews.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/arizona-tent-city-prison.jpg[/img] Even though they are convicts, they're still human beings. Are they not worthy of being kept cool as well as we are?
[QUOTE=MR-X;36535742]I don't feel bad for them in any shape or form, they did something to get themselves there.[/QUOTE] like smoke a joint heathens
[QUOTE=Kopimi;36542407]idk how many 3 star hotels you've been to but generally when i stay at a 3 star hotel i'm not living under threat of being raped or stabbed daily[/QUOTE] I don't know how many prisons you've been to but generally inmates at the ones I've seen aren't living under threat of being raped or stabbed daily either.
[QUOTE=asteroidrules;36543706]I don't know how many prisons you've been to but generally inmates at the ones I've seen aren't living under threat of being raped or stabbed daily either.[/QUOTE] [url]http://www.hrw.org/news/2007/12/15/us-federal-statistics-show-widespread-prison-rape[/url] [url]http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1272/is_2724_134/ai_n15380394/[/url]
[QUOTE=Kopimi;36543748][url]http://www.hrw.org/news/2007/12/15/us-federal-statistics-show-widespread-prison-rape[/url] [url]http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1272/is_2724_134/ai_n15380394/[/url][/QUOTE] Got any State-by-State statistics? Not to stereotype, but it sounds like the south making the country look bad again.
[QUOTE=asteroidrules;36543798]Got any State-by-State statistics? Not to stereotype, but it sounds like the south making the country look bad again.[/QUOTE] can't be arsed to find completely unnecessary statistics to back up a well known fact about the american prison system for you read this: [url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prison_rape_in_the_United_States[/url]
[QUOTE=Kopimi;36543823]can't be arsed to find completely necessary statistics to back up a well known fact about the american prison system for you read this: [url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prison_rape_in_the_United_States[/url][/QUOTE] Fixed, the state matters quite a lot, different states can be like completely different countries at times.
[QUOTE=asteroidrules;36543956]Fixed, the state matters quite a lot, different states can be like completely different countries at times.[/QUOTE] [quote]In a survey of 1,788 male inmates in Midwestern prisons by Prison Journal, about 21% claimed they had been coerced or pressured into sexual activity during their incarceration, and 7% claimed that they had been raped in their current facility.[3][/quote] maybe you should read these sources im posting instead of whining about mundane bullshit so you can desperately cling on to your ignorant view of the american prison system.
[QUOTE=Kopimi;36544006]maybe you should read these sources im posting instead of whining about mundane bullshit so you can desperately cling on to your ignorant view of the american prison system.[/QUOTE] Maybe you should read my responses instead of whining about mundane bullshit so you can desperately cling on to your ignorant view of the american prison system. I'll repeat, and I'm going to put this in the simplest terms possible: I want, and I'm even gonna write this bigger so you can see it, [b]State by State statistics[/b]. The "midwest" is not a state.
[QUOTE=asteroidrules;36544130]Maybe you should read my responses instead of whining about mundane bullshit so you can desperately cling on to your ignorant view of the american prison system.[/QUOTE] you are the absolute worst you wanted state by state statistics because you were worried the south was making the rest of the country look bad. wiki says 21% of inmates in the MIDWEST have been coerced or pressured into sex while incarcerated, yet that somehow doesn't answer your question? you really want me to pull up statistics for each individual state to see what percentage of inmates have been raped on a state-by-state basis because you're too lazy to google it yourself? [editline]29th June 2012[/editline] [url]http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/ascii/svsfpri07.txt[/url] [editline]29th June 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=asteroidrules;36544130]I want, and I'm even gonna write this bigger so you can see it, [b]State by State statistics[/b]. The "midwest" is not a state.[/QUOTE] if you're going to be this lazy find them yourself, you have the internet and if you're this desperate to find these completely benign statistics you're more than capable of doing it on your own
[QUOTE=Kopimi;36544176] if you're going to be this lazy find them yourself, you have the internet and if you're this desperate to find these completely benign statistics you're more than capable of doing it on your own[/QUOTE] Innocent until proven guilty, you're the accuser, the burden of proof falls on you.
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