Prisoners inside a sweltering South Florida prison were subjected to dangerously high temperatures this summer—peaking at a "real feel" of 119 degrees in one area—according to a recent expert report filed in a class action lawsuit.
The Florida Justice Institute (FJI), a nonprofit that litigates on behalf of incarcerated people and other vulnerable groups, filed a lawsuit last year challenging the lack of air conditioning in Dade Correctional Institution (Dade C.I.), a state prison in Miami-Dade County. The FJI alleges the prison violates inmates' Eighth Amendment rights by keeping them in cells where, during the long Florida summer, the heat index—the perceived temperature when accounting for relative humidity—remains well above the 88-degree threshold where the risks for heat-related illness and death begin to significantly increase.
