Two-thirds of Texas prisons lack A/C; inmates die at 107.5F body temps

Approximately 85,000 Texas prison inmates live in facilities without air conditioning in living areas, and a federal judge ruled in March 2025 that this constitutes unconstitutional conditions -- but declined to order the state to install A/C. The people dying are incarcerated individuals who cannot escape indoor temperatures that regularly exceed 100F. An inmate's body temperature was recorded at 107.5F when he died, yet the state of Texas officially denied heat as the cause of death. At least 41 people died in uncooled Texas prisons during the 2024 heat wave alone. NPR reporting in July 2024 linked new autopsy evidence to heat-related prisoner deaths that the state had previously denied. So what happens is that inmates stuff wet towels under doors, flood their cells with toilet water to cool the floor, and buy fans from commissary at inflated prices -- turning a constitutional rights violation into another revenue stream. The Texas legislature allocated $85 million for A/C installation, but as of early 2025, only $13 million had been spent or obligated. This persists because incarcerated people cannot vote in Texas, corrections spending is politically unpopular, and the 13th Amendment exception means there is no economic incentive to maintain worker productivity through humane conditions the way there would be in a free labor market.