A federal judge has ordered Texas to install air conditioning in every state prison by December 31, 2029, ruling that extreme heat in uncooled units violates the Eighth Amendment's ban on cruel and unusual punishment, The Texas Tribune reported. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) said it will appeal.
As of September 1, TDCJ reported 53,676 cool beds, leaving nearly 90,000 incarcerated people in housing without air conditioning. Just over a third of the agency's 104 facilities were fully air-conditioned, according to TDCJ's air conditioning data.
