More than 70 percent of Texas prisons don’t have air conditioning. And that’s not going change anytime soon, reports The Dallas Morning News.
In many prison cells, temperatures can climb higher than 100 degrees. But changing the situation will require the end to a years-long legal battle between prisoner advocates and Texas corrections officials.
The prison advocates say super-hot Texas prisons constitute cruel and unusual punishment. They insist the extreme heat can even jeopardize the lives of inmates—especially the elderly and ill.
But corrections officials say they already take adequate measures to ensure the safety of inmates. They contend that adding air conditioning to already aging buildings would be prohibitively expensive to taxpayers.
Until the court rules on the dispute, the inmates will continue to sweat.