(MintPress) – Inhumane prison conditions in Texas have led to two separate lawsuits against the state. The lack of proper air-conditioning and ventilation has led to the wrongful deaths of four inmates in the past year, with many others claiming conditions are unbearably hot. A pending lawsuit, first filed in 2008 claims that 54 prisoners were subject to dangerous temperatures of well over 100 degrees for 10 straight summer days.
The incidents are not isolated to this suit, as there are several other inmates who have suffered injury or death during extreme heat. Prisoner rights groups have claimed that this is part of a trend in Texas, which has violated state codes for prison maintenance and the constitutional rights of prisoners.
Pending lawsuit
The Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states, “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” The prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment is one that prisoners and families claim has been violated on numerous occasions when the state of Texas fails to cool prison air to reasonable temperatures during typically hot Texas summers.
The plaintiffs, along with the families of the deceased prisoners Larry Gene McCollum, 58; Alexander Togonidze, 44; Michael David Martone, 57; and Kenneth Wayne James, 52, continue to seek justice through the courts. The main lawsuit has been in the works since 2008 and is based upon claims that temperatures reached 126 degrees on the heat index for 10 straight days. The heat index is a measure of both temperature and humidity in the air.
These “Death Valley” like conditions described by Manny Fernandez in a recent New York Times article have drawn considerable national attention to the regulation of prisons and the treatment of inmates.
While for prisoners and rights groups, the case for reform is clear, finding the proper channels for legislative reform has been difficult. A Texas state law requires county correctional facilities to maintain temperatures between 65 and 85 degrees. However, this requirement does not include state facilities. In fact, of 111 prisons overseen by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, only 21 had air-conditioning. Many prisons have some, limited air-conditioning in on-site medical facilities and shared areas, such as cafeterias. However, this generally does not extend to the prisoner cells.
Jason Clark, a representative for the Texas prison system says that many of the facilities were built in the 1960s and 1970s, before it was common to outfit prisons with air-conditioning systems. Retrofitting aging prison facilities with air-conditioning would be costly, he claims.
Despite the lawsuits for better prison conditions, some even within the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) appear to be unsympathetic to the plight of prisoners. “It’s presumed taxpayers are not going to want to fund air conditioning of the units,” said TDCJ spokeswoman Michelle Lyons in a 2011 statement.
Defending the TDCJ, Lyons points out that prisoners are allowed to purchase fans from the prison store or through their commissary. Additionally, when temperatures are high, inmates, Lyons says, are allowed more water, additional showers and can sometimes break the prison uniform code by wearing shorts.
While the debate continues, the death of four inmates from hyperthermia or heat stroke last summer has made the case for reform abundantly clear.
Fatalities and injuries in Texas prisons
For the deceased prisoners, a particularly hot stretch of weather led to their premature deaths during a hot Texas summer.
In the case of McCollum, prison officials found that he had fallen from his bunk suffering from a heat induced seizure on the early hours of July 22, 2011. After being taken from the Hutchins State Prison to a Dallas hospital, McCollum received emergency treatment, but he died six days later from symptoms. When he was first admitted to the hospital, his body temperature was recorded at 109.4 degrees fahrenheit, more than 10 degrees above what is considered an average body temperature.
While McCollum weighed 345 pounds and suffered from hypertension, the main cause of death according to the autopsy report was his being “in a hot environment without air-conditioning.”
He was, doctors say, predisposed to hyperthermia because of weight problems and preexisting medical conditions.
The Texas Civil Rights Project (TCRP), a non-profit legal activist group has taken up the case, claiming that the conditions in the prison were cruel and inhumane, having caused the death of McCollum and three others. The TCRP has previously worked on a variety of cases, advocating for human rights reforms in prisons. Their work, and the work of other groups highlights a trend of deteriorating prison conditions during a time when prisoner populations have grown considerably. The problem, as some point out, comes from the decision to privatize many prisons so states can pursue cost cutting austerity measures.
Is privatization the problem?
The United States incarcerates at a higher rate than any other country in the world. In fact, the U.S. has 5 percent of the world’s population, but claims 25 percent of the world’s prison population, according to the International Center for Prison Studies at the University of Essex. The high incarceration rate has continued despite record decreases in violent crime nationally over the past 30 years.
The “tough on crime” policies pushed by President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s have led to increasingly aged prison populations. The Texas Civil Rights Project, involved in the aforementioned case, has also issued a report on the lack of adequate geriatric healthcare available to aging prisoners.
“As a human rights organization, our perspective is that these conditions are cruel and unusual, they violate the Constitution, and that it’s illegal to house prisoners in these conditions,” said Scott Medlock of the Texas Civil Rights Project.
Given the lack of adequate healthcare, the TCRP has recommended that prisons free elderly prisoners, especially those that are at the end of life and in declining medical condition. Many of these prisoners have served decades behind bars and because of their poor physical condition, are no longer a threat to society.
The issue has been raised previously by Human Rights Watch (HRW). In January 2012 HRW issued a report, “Old Behind Bars: The Aging Prison Population in the United States.” The exhaustive 104-page report found that there are now 124,400 prisoners over the age of 55 in the United States. Additionally, nearly 1 in 10 prisoners in general prison populations is currently serving a life sentence, meaning that the number of elderly prisoners is likely to increase in the coming years.
As prisoners age, their associated medical care becomes more intensive, increasing their medical costs anywhere from 3 to 9 times that of their younger cohort, according to the HRW report.
While it is unlikely that many aging prisoners will be released to save money, many states have chosen to privatize their prison systems as a means to create jobs and save taxpayer money.
While the move has been welcomed by some lawmakers, others point to rampant violence and poor maintenance by private prison companies as reason to oppose the privatization of American prisons. For example, a recent investigation by the Department of Justice (DOJ) into a privately run Mississippi juvenile detention center revealed lackadaisical commitments to the safety and wellbeing of prisoners. Gang activity was rampant, often times aided by guards who were known to have previously had criminal records.
In some cases, guards sexually abused prisoners. While the investigation continues, the state of Mississippi claims that GEO Inc., the private contractor running the prison, is under no obligation to improve conditions under the current contract. However, state officials have promised to replace the company with another private company once the contract expires.