A Federal Judge Ruled Extreme Heat In Texas Prisons Violates The Constitution, Giving The State Until The End Of 2029 To Install Air Conditioning Across Its Prison System
A federal judge has ordered Texas to install air conditioning throughout its state prison system, ruling that exposing incarcerated people to extreme heat violates the Constitution’s protection against cruel and unusual punishment.
U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman ordered the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to immediately develop and implement a plan to provide air conditioning throughout its prisons, with installation completed no later than Dec. 31, 2029.
The ruling, issued Tuesday, Sept. 22, follows years of litigation over temperatures inside Texas prisons, where housing areas without air conditioning can routinely exceed 90 degrees and, in some facilities, reach triple digits during the summer.
Nearly 90,000 People Still Without Cooled Beds
As of Sept. 1, TDCJ reported 53,676 air-conditioned beds across the prison system. Only 38 of the agency’s 104 facilities were fully air-conditioned, leaving nearly 90,000 incarcerated people without cooled housing.
TDCJ says lawmakers have provided hundreds of millions of dollars in recent legislative sessions to expand air conditioning. Current and planned projects are expected to eventually increase the number of cooled beds to approximately 90,000.
But Pitman found those efforts insufficient.
In his 150-page order, the judge pointed to evidence of continuing heat-related injuries, deaths and suffering inside the system, concluding that TDCJ leadership had failed to establish a sufficient plan to address the conditions.
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The case went to trial earlier this year in Austin. During the proceedings, attorneys challenging the conditions argued that people housed inside some prisons regularly experience temperatures above 90 degrees and that existing measures such as cold water, showers and access to cooler respite areas do not eliminate the dangers posed by prolonged heat exposure.
Texas Plans To Appeal
Cooling the entire Texas prison system could cost roughly $1.5 billion, according to estimates presented by TDCJ during the litigation.
The agency has argued that installing air conditioning across aging prison facilities requires significant construction, infrastructure improvements and funding from state lawmakers.
TDCJ said following the ruling that it disagrees with the court’s conclusion that the agency demonstrated deliberate indifference toward the dangers posed by extreme heat and intends to appeal the decision.
The ruling marks a major development in a yearslong fight over heat conditions in Texas prisons. A previous federal lawsuit resulted in air conditioning being installed at the Wallace Pack Unit near Navasota in 2018, but Pitman’s latest order would require cooling throughout the state system.
