Incarcerated people in the United States retain constitutional rights that prison systems routinely violate. The Eighth Amendment prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. Courts have found this covers extreme heat, denial of medical care, and dangerous conditions. 95,000 people in Texas prisons right now have no air conditioning in cells that exceed 110°F. A federal trial to fix that started today.
In a 91-page ruling, US District Judge Robert Pitman found that housing Texas inmates in facilities without air conditioning during extreme heat is “plainly unconstitutional” under the Eighth Amendment. He declined to order immediate air conditioning. Instead he sent the case to trial. That trial started today.
Texas law requires county jails to maintain temperatures between 65°F and 85°F. Animal shelters have heat rules. Roughly two-thirds of Texas state prisons — which hold over 130,000 people — have no such requirement and no full air conditioning. The state had a $32.7 billion budget surplus in 2023. The Texas House budgeted $545 million for prison air conditioning. The Senate offered nothing.
Inmates have described splashing toilet water on themselves to stay cool and faking mental health episodes to get transferred to an air-conditioned psychiatric ward. Experts testified that heat index values at or above 88°F can cause heat exhaustion, dehydration, and heat stroke even in young, healthy inmates — and can also cause heart attacks, kidney failure, and increased suicide risk.