Texas heat wave has inmates' families worried about lack of air conditioning in state's prisons

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A heat wave that has consistently pushed temperatures well above 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.8 degrees Celsius) across much of Texas this summer had family members of inmates on Tuesday calling for lawmakers to ensure that all of the state’s prisons are fully air conditioned.

“They’re cooking our inmates in the Texas prison system,” said Tona Southards Naranjo, who believes the death last month of her son, Jon Southards, was caused by excessive heat in his prison, the Estelle Unit in Huntsville. Naranjo was one of more than 60 people who attended a rally outside the Texas Capitol on Tuesday.

Advocates and others have been highly critical of the lack of air conditioning in the nation’s largest prison system, alleging temperatures that often go past 120 degrees Fahrenheit (48.9 degrees Celsius) inside Texas prisons in the summer have been responsible for hundreds of inmate deaths in recent years. Only about 30% of Texas’ 100 prison units are fully air conditioned, with the rest having partial or no air conditioning. Texas currently has more than 128,000 inmates.

However, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, or TDCJ, says there have been no heat-related deaths in the state’s prisons since 2012. Officials are still investigating what caused Jon Southards’ death, said Amanda Hernandez, a TDCJ spokesperson. At least eight other inmate deaths in recent weeks that advocates allege are heat-related were either due to cardiac arrest or other medical conditions, Hernandez said. The cause of some are still under investigation.

https://apnews.com/article/texas-prison-air-conditioning-families-rally-bdd5f3d46462d804cc1d8c7116af5d1d