Federal judge rules prison heat conditions are unconstitutional, but doesn’t require air conditioning

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Housing Texas prison inmates in sweltering facilities that lack air conditioning is “plainly unconstitutional,” U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman said Wednesday in a groundbreaking, 91-page ruling.

The judge declined to order the Texas Department of Justice to immediately install temporary or permanent air conditioning, instead forcing the plaintiffs to move towards a trial.

Pitman wrote that the case will likely move to a bench trial and that the plaintiffs and defense must submit a proposed timeline for legal proceedings by April 10.

Still, Marci Marie Simmons, who was previously incarcerated and is among the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, called the decision a win and said she hopes the ruling pushes state lawmakers to fund prison air conditioning. At least five bills, including House Bill 2997 and House Bill 1315, have been filed this session that would require state prisons to be equipped with air conditioning, but none of the bills have received a hearing yet.

“This is a federal judge saying Texas is unconstitutionally housing people in these dangerous and deadly temperatures,” Simmons said. “I cried. I cried for my people on the inside.”

In an emailed statement, a spokesperson for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice said the agency "appreciates and respects" the federal court's decision to not require immediate installation of air conditioning.

"TDCJ is fully committed to the safety of the inmate population and our staff, and that commitment is reflected in TDCJ’s ongoing efforts to install air conditioning, identify inmates who are heat sensitive, and implement heat mitigation protocols," the statement read. "TDCJ also very much appreciates the past and planned support of the Legislature in making funding available to continue TDCJ’s ongoing installation of air conditioning in more units and housing areas throughout the TDCJ system."

The background: About 85,000 Texas prison inmates reside in facilities that do not have air conditioning in most living areas. During the summer, high temperatures can create dangerous conditions that have been exacerbated in recent years by climate change.

At least 23 individuals died from heat-related causes in TDCJ prisons between 1998 and 2012, according to court documents. According to a 2022 study, 14 prison deaths per year are associated with the heat. And a Texas Tribune analysis found that at least 41 people died in uncooled prisons during a record-breaking heat wave last year.

Autopsy reports for several prisoners who died in uncooled cells mention heat as a possible cause of death, KUT reported. But a criminal justice agency spokesperson told the news organization that underlying medical conditions, not heat, caused those deaths. During an August 2024 court hearing, prison officials admitted that extreme heat contributed to those inmates’ deaths but said heat was not the only culprit.

The state agency has previously been sued over the extreme heat in uncooled cells. In 2018, the agency reached a settlement with inmates in a class action lawsuit and agreed to install air conditioning in one notoriously hot prison called the Wallace Pack Unit, a geriatric prison. Sick or elderly prisoners were also moved into cool housing.

Already, Texas law requires county jails to be kept between 65 and 85 degrees. Other facilities, such as animal shelters, also have heat rules.

State lawmakers did not put any money directly towards air conditioning prisons last year, when they had a $32.7 billion budget surplus. The Texas House had budgeted $545 million for prison air conditioning but the more conservative Senate offered nothing.

The state did allocate $85 million to the TDCJ, and the agency is using that money to pay for air conditioning units. That money will help about 10,000 inmates move into air conditioned facilities. So far, only $13 million of that has been expensed or obligated, TDCJ spokesperson Amanda Hernandez told the Texas Tribune in February.

Why advocate groups sued: In April, four nonprofit organizations joined a lawsuit originally filed last August by Bernie Tiede, an inmate who was housed in a Huntsville cell where temperatures exceeded 110 degrees. The new filing expanded the plaintiffs to include every inmate incarcerated in uncooled Texas prisons.

Lawyers and advocates said they hoped to prove the lack of air conditioning created conditions that amount to unconstitutionally cruel and unusual punishment.

“What we are doing is overheating the body for long periods of time which is detrimental to the body…. we’re literally cooking them,” said Amite Dominick, founder of Texas Prison Community Advocates, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuits. “People don’t live when you cook them.”

Dominick and others also argue that the measures the state has taken to respond to the heat, such as giving inmates access to cold towels and respite areas, are insufficient.

What the state says: The agency estimates that installing permanent air conditioning in every unit would cost more than $1.1 billion and would come with an annual operating cost of close to $20 million, according to court documents.

During a hearing last year TDCJ Executive Director Bryan Collier said he wants to install air conditioning in every prison but that he simply doesn’t have the funds to do so.

Prison leaders also pointed to their “heat protocols,” such as allowing inmates access to cool respite areas, making electrolytes, water and ice readily available, and training correctional staff on the signs and treatment for heat-related illness.

Heat mitigation policies are inadequate, Pitman said, evidenced by the fact that “dozens” of inmates have died or fallen ill because of extreme heat even with those measures in place.

Inmates are also screened for medical conditions that would make them more sensitive to the heat. Those with heat sensitivity get priority placement for air-conditioned housing, a TDCJ spokesperson said. As of Aug. 7, more than 12,000 inmates had a heat sensitivity score, thespokesperson said.

Pitman said such measures are arbitrary, citing examples of individuals who would not qualify for a heat score despite their medical condition, including “a 90-year-old with hypertension” and someone who has a seizure disorder. Only about 10% of Texas prison inmates have a heat score, even though all of the roughly 134,500 people incarcerated in them face “a substantial risk of serious harm from the extreme heat in unair-conditioned facilities,” Pitman wrote.

Broader impact: Lawsuits about heat in state prisons have also been filed in other southern states including Louisiana and Georgia. If Texas is ultimately required to air condition its prisons, the state agency will face a large cost that lawmakers have previously not approved.

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