Federal judge orders Texas to air condition all prisons by the end of 2029

QuercusMax

I don't understand why Texas voters support such inhumane conditions. All these "Christians" who support this kind of cruel punishment need to have a "come to Jesus" moment, literally.

zamadatix

Director Lumpkin should be criminally responsible for these conditions and deaths he has been indifferent to.

jimbo456

The only truly endless resource is man's inhumanity to his fellow man.

boredatoms

The US needs to get over this whole ‘punishment’ view of prison. It either a social-safety quarantine, or a rehabilitation

MichaelNolan

Just out of college I didn’t know what I wanted to do, so I took a job at a prison near Phoenix AZ. It was outdoors, the cells had no AC. In a 10 hour shift in 115 (46c) degree weather I would go through 1.5 gallons (5.6 liters) of water. Every single day at least one inmate would pass out from the heat. At least they got heat for the winter. Thankfully I left all that behind a long time ago. Though I just checked and they still don’t have AC. There is a fairly famous quote: “The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons” - Fyodor Dostoevsky

lasky

May we teach our children the only thing that truly matters is how we regard the dignity of people. I find most successful Americans I meet are so self-obsessed they are left with an incredibly low capacity for empathy for those in lower classes than them. Wild how they think they are so different than Nazis.

harpersealtako

I'm more curious personally about the legal side here. Setting aside the actual object level issue (I personally support A/C for prisons), it seems to open up a lot of interesting questions to me: * was it cruel and unusual punishment for Texas prisons to not have A/C before the invention of A/C (obviously not) * was it cruel and unusual punishment for Texas prisons to not have A/C before A/C became widespread and affordable for regular people? (probably not) * what is the main reason why this wasn't an issue 50 years ago and is now? Climate change? People being on average more sensitive to heat than they used to be? Better legal recognition of prisoner suffering? Broadening of 8th amendment protections in the court system? Changing public morals, i.e. "evolving standards of decency"? Ubiquity of A/C in ordinary Texans' day to day life? The random chance of this particular case getting sent to this particular judge? * Is it cruel and unusual punishment for Texas prisons to not have A/C now, when not all non-imprisoned Texans have A/C (and if so, does that imply that A/C is being codified here as basic human right, and is that really constitutionally tenable? How is it possible for a judge to order that something is a constitutional right for prisoners, but an optional private luxury for non prisoners?) * Is A/C the only option, or might other, cheaper cooling methods be allowed, if the core of the complaint is reducing preventable heat-related injuries and deaths? Hypothetically (not a real proposal obviously), if instead the prison put hotel-style ice machines in every cell, would this solve the issue or is the judge's decision very specifically about A/C?

cucumber3732842

The year is 2030. You are reading a breathless article on HN about how horrible Texas is for air conditioning their prisons but not their school. Way down at the bottom is a dead comment: "Texan here, schools are managed locally, prisons are managed at the state level"