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C Moon

(12,182 posts)
Wed Oct 1, 2014, 06:53 PM Oct 2014

I'd always wondered how prisonsers survive in U.S. prisons during heat waves...it sounds awful:

I know prisons aren't supposed to be comfortable, but this sounds life threatening.

Texas inmates sue for relief from prison cells that ‘hold heat in like a parked car’
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2014/06/20/texas-inmates-sue-for-relief-from-prison-cells-that-hold-heat-in-like-a-parked-car/

"Texas prisoners have sued (again) to force the state’s Department of Criminal Justice to bring temperatures in their cells down to 88 degrees or less.

Most people would probably consider the high 80?s to be uncomfortably hot, but the federal lawsuit — filed on behalf of four inmates at a facility that houses ill, geriatric and disabled prisoners — alleges that the status quo is far worse.

According to the suit, filed in Houston this week by the Texas Civil Rights Project and other advocates, the cells at Wallace Pack Unit, near College Station, are so hot “that inmates have resorted to wrapping themselves in damp towels and lying on the concrete floors,” according to Texas Monthly.

Inmates lay towels on the burning hot stainless steel tables to rest their elbows. The walls, also made of metal, trap in hot air like a “parked car.” Some dorm windows are sealed shut; others that do open don’t provide relief from the heat. ..."

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I'd always wondered how prisonsers survive in U.S. prisons during heat waves...it sounds awful: (Original Post) C Moon Oct 2014 OP
I'm an unashamed "bleeding heart liberal" on this issue. Nye Bevan Oct 2014 #1
I totally agree! gopiscrap Oct 2014 #3
A-fucking-men! Hippo_Tron Oct 2014 #8
I couldn't tell from the article...are these private/for profit prisons? nt logosoco Oct 2014 #2
Not 100% sure, but this article says it's run by the state of Texas. C Moon Oct 2014 #4
This is torture. surrealAmerican Oct 2014 #5
Yep. Their punishment is supposed to be incarceration. Nye Bevan Oct 2014 #6
A woman prisoner died in Arizona in an outside holding cell in Joe Arpaio's hellhole. Manifestor_of_Light Oct 2014 #7
Jesus! This is what I was wondering about. That's horrible! C Moon Oct 2014 #9

Nye Bevan

(25,406 posts)
1. I'm an unashamed "bleeding heart liberal" on this issue.
Wed Oct 1, 2014, 06:58 PM
Oct 2014

Inmates should serve their sentences in safe, humane conditions, with air conditioning when appropriate. If AC is there for the guards it should be there for the inmates too.

C Moon

(12,182 posts)
4. Not 100% sure, but this article says it's run by the state of Texas.
Wed Oct 1, 2014, 07:24 PM
Oct 2014
http://www.inmateaid.com/prisons/tdcj-wallace-pack-unit

Wallace Pack Unit is a low security correctional facility. Inmates are housed together in dormitories or cubicle housing. They are provided with access to programs and training that will help to rehabilitate them so that they’re ready to get their lives back on track when released. As a low security facility, TDCJ - Wallace Pack Unit has a lower staff to inmate ratio than medium or high security jails.

TDCJ - Wallace Pack Unit is a state prison. This facility is operated by the state of Texas and is used to house and rehabilitate criminals. Inmates at TDCJ - Wallace Pack Unit are generally housed in locked cells during the night and are provided certain privileges such as the use of a recreation area, TV, phones and in some cases may have a job within the prison.

surrealAmerican

(11,332 posts)
5. This is torture.
Wed Oct 1, 2014, 08:13 PM
Oct 2014

These inmates are sick, old, and/or disabled, and the state of Texas has decided to torture them.

How many people have died from this?

 

Manifestor_of_Light

(21,046 posts)
7. A woman prisoner died in Arizona in an outside holding cell in Joe Arpaio's hellhole.
Wed Oct 1, 2014, 09:07 PM
Oct 2014

She paid for it with a horrible death by heatstroke. I think she was charged with prostitution.


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