The trial over insufficient air conditioning in Texas prisons is slated to start Monday in Austin.
The proceeding comes over a year after U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman said in a groundbreaking, 91-page ruling that housing Texas prison inmates in sweltering facilities that lack air conditioning is “plainly unconstitutional.” Pitman declined last March to order the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to immediately install temporary or permanent air conditioning, instead forcing the plaintiffs to move towards a trial.
At the time of the initial ruling, Marci Marie Simmons, who was previously incarcerated and is among the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, called the decision a win and said she hopes it pushes state lawmakers to fund prison air conditioning.
