Cruel And Unusual Temperatures In Our Prisons

Buckingham Correctional Center in Dilwyn was built to house
640 prisoners, but now has twice that number, and the oven-like
heat becomes almost unbearable in ever warmer summers.

Most folks my age grew up without air conditioning and with few fans to relieve discomfort brought on by warm summer weather.

Today we insist on year-round climate controlled comfort, and when our air conditioning unit on Hamlet Drive malfunctioned recently we soon contacted someone (referred to as a "comfort specialist") to fix the problem.

Millions of our fellow human beings around the world who live in ever warmer climates have no access to such luxury.

This is also true of an estimated 25% of prisoners in Virginia confined in older, crowded warehouse-like facilities with no air conditioning, along with many of the 2.2 million people living in over 6,000 jail and prison facilities elsewhere in the United States. Lack of available funding is always cited as the reason, but increased medical costs and greater unrest resulting from severe heat are causing concern among many lawmakers and prison officials.

Some prisons have been reported to offer extra ice packs and cold water to help alleviate the stress, but elevated temperatures can make living conditions almost unbearable, and getting a normal night's sleep can be a serious problem. And once room temperatures become greater than normal body temperature, more fans can actually make the stress on the heart worse, resulting in heat strokes and heart attacks that can prove to be fatal. 

The Vera Institute of Justice recently reported the following:

Temperatures inside jails and prisons can often exceed 100 degrees. The heat index—a measure of how hot it really feels when humidity is factored in with the temperature—can reach as high as 150 degrees. The consequences of these heat waves can be severe. A Columbia Law School climate study estimated that most of those incarcerated did not have air conditioning in their units. Exposure to high heat alone can lead to increases in aggression, suicide, poor cognitive functioning, and overall poor mental health. What’s more, over 20 percent of people incarcerated in U.S. prisons have a mental illness, and an aging prison population means that many individuals are suffering from medical conditions like high blood pressure. Psychotropic drugs and high blood pressure medications can both disrupt the body's ability to regulate heat and cool itself down—meaning that many people in prison face higher risk of overheating.