AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A federal judge's rebuke of Texas housing prisoners in lockups without air conditioning stopped short of ordering a fix before summer in what has become of the country's biggest lawsuits over keeping prisoners safe during dangerous extreme heat.
But U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman's warnings to Texas to act after finding the conditions in the prison system unconstitutional could resonate elsewhere in the U.S. where similar challenges are ongoing, according to attorneys leading the Texas case and other prisoner advocates.
Texas is just one of several states, mostly in the South, facing lawsuits over prison conditions when temperatures often rise above 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.7 Celsius). In Louisiana, a group of men incarcerated at a state penitentiary this week again asked a federal judge to take steps to protect prisoners doing outdoor agricultural labor in dangerous heat.
“Texas is the largest prison system in the country and the judge found it to be acting in an unconstitutional manner and indifferent to dangerous conditions,” said Jeff Edwards, lead attorney in the Texas case.
“Every warden and leader of a correctional system is going to be aware of it,” Edwards said. “It sends an incredibly powerful message.”
The Texas case will not have authority over prisons in other states. But Corene Kendrick, deputy director of the ACLU National Prison Project, said the judge's findings will be significant for lawsuits with the same issues of extreme heat, limited or no air conditioning, and inmates at risk of dying.
"It's influential,” Kendrick said.
Texas has more than 130,000 people in prisons. Only about a third of roughly 100 prison units are fully air-conditioned, and the rest have either partial or no electrical cooling.
The lawsuit was initially filed in 2023 by Bernie Tiede, the former mortician serving a life sentence whose murder case inspired the movie “Bernie.” Several prisoners’ rights groups then asked to join his legal fight and expand it.
Several people who were formerly incarcerated in Texas testified that inmates would fake suicide attempts to be moved to cooler medical areas, while some would set fires so that guards would be forced to hose down cells.
Texas officials acknowledged that heat may have been a factor in a handful of deaths in 2023 but dispute claims that the impact has been far greater. On Thursday, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice said it has asked lawmakers for $118 million to install air conditioning for about 16,000 more beds.
“TDCJ is dedicated to continuing to add air-conditioned beds in our facilities,” the agency said.
In Louisiana, a federal judge last year ordered prison officials to increase shaded areas, schedule additional breaks, provide sunscreen and medical checks to those especially vulnerable to high temperatures.
But the order did not shut down work on a former slave plantation when heat indexes reach 88 degrees Fahrenheit (31.1 degrees Celsius) or higher, which was what the plaintiffs had requested.
The judge’s order has since expired and a group of inmates filed a new request for help.
“As we enter the summer season in Louisiana, the State continues to force incarcerated people to work in the fields of a former plantation, under dangerous conditions, putting them at extreme risk of heat-related illness,” said Samantha Pourciau, Senior Staff Attorney at the Promise of Justice Initiative.
The Louisiana Department of Correction did not immediately respond for comment.
A federal lawsuit in New Mexico claims eight inmates were confined for hours in stifling summer heat in a prison transport van without working air conditioning. In Georgia, prison officials face a federal lawsuit from the family of a man who said he died after he was left in an outdoor cell without water, shade or ice in July 2023.
The Texas case will proceed toward trial, where the judge warned the state of the likelihood it could be ordered to spend billions to install permanent air conditioning.
The Texas Legislature is in session and currently writing the two-year state budget. Lawmakers have filed at least three bills that would provide some relief.
Temperatures are rising as the Texas summer approaches. Some areas of the state have already hit above 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 Celsius).
“I’m regretful we can’t protect them with relief this summer,” Edwards said. “But we will move as fast as we can.”
___ Associated Press journalists Sara Cline in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Kate Brumback in Atlanta, Morgan Lee in Santa Fe, New Mexico and Jacques Billeaud in Phoenix contributed.
Jim Vertuno, The Associated Press
