During brutal Texas summers, it’s not uncommon for prisoners to douse themselves in toilet water to survive the brutal heat. Male inmates frequently set fires with contraband items so staff will come in and hose down the pod. Suicide attempts — both fake and genuine — abound so incarcerated individuals can be taken to an air-conditioned medical office.
Those findings were referenced in a 91-page ruling issued last week by Austin-based U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman, who opined that the lack of air conditioning in Texas prisons is unconstitutional. Pitman stopped short of mandating an immediate temporary remedy, instead encouraging the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to find an expeditious long-term solution. An attorney representing an individual and four nonprofit advocacy groups said the matter would go to trial as soon as possible.
“This case concerns the plainly unconstitutional treatment of some of the most vulnerable, marginalized members of our society,” Pitman wrote in his ruling. “The Court is of the view that excessive heat is likely serving as a form of unconstitutional punishment.”
The judge’s ruling was celebrated by advocacy groups who acknowledged their work will continue as the matter heads to Pitman’s courtroom later this year. Four nonprofit groups joined a lawsuit about a year ago originally filed in 2023 by Bernhardt Tiede II, a man convicted in the 1999 East Texas murder of Marjorie Nugent.
Tiede, portrayed by Jack Black in the 2011 Richard Linklater film Bernie, is serving a 99-year sentence at the maximum-security Connally Unit in Kenedy, Texas. The lawsuit claims that extreme heat leads to higher rates of death and bodily injury. Studies show that temperatures reaching 140 degrees in the antiquated red-brick Texas prisons increase violence and suicide risks.
Similar lawsuits have been filed against prison administrations in warm-climate states Louisiana, New Mexico and Georgia.
The number of heat-related deaths in Texas prisons is widely disputed. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice lists seven causes of death in public records: illness, accidental alcohol/drug intoxication, accidental injury to self, accidental injury by other, suicide, homicide, and a catch-all “other causes” category. Most are classified as “illness” deaths, and experts maintain that while a person may die of a heart attack or kidney failure — an illness — heat could very well be a contributing factor.
A study conducted in November 2022 by researchers at Brown, Boston and Harvard universities found that 271 deaths in Texas prisons without “universal AC” between 2001 and 2019 may be attributed to extreme heat.
During court testimony last summer, Texas Department of Criminal Justice Executive Director Bryan Collier said heat was a factor in three inmate deaths in 2023. Prior to that, the state agency hadn’t acknowledged a heat-related death since 2012.
“Cruel and Unusual”
Tona Southards Naranjo, whose son Jon Anthony Southards died at Huntsville’s Estelle Unit in June 2023, said she’s conflicted about last week’s ruling because it doesn’t provide immediate relief.
“In some ways I agree 100 percent that it’s not cost-effective to install temporary emergency AC because they need it in every unit, permanently,” she said. “Temporary AC is not an answer to this problem. But to rule [that it’s] cruel and unusual punishment is a beautiful thing.”
Naranjo said she is certain that heat played a factor in her son’s death. He was 36 years old when he died.
Attorney Kevin Homiak, a partner with Denver-based Wheeler Trigg O’Donnell LLP, represents Tiede along with Lioness Justice Impacted Women’s Alliance, Texas Prisons Community Advocates, Coalition of Texans with Disabilities and Texas Citizens United for Rehabilitation of Errants.
Homiak acknowledged Texas prisoners won’t get any immediate relief from the heat this summer but the judge’s ruling is absolutely a victory.
“The first and most significant finding is that [Judge Pitman] said we met our burden of establishing that the current practice of housing nearly 100,000 individuals in unairconditioned facilities is likely violating the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment,” Homiak said. “So that’s huge … This, in my mind, is an overwhelming victory.”
Texas Department of Criminal Justice officials have said it would cost billions to install full air conditioning in all Texas prisons, and the state legislature has not approved such a measure. While a common sentiment from those opposed to prison AC is, “Do the crime, do the time,” those who have incarcerated loved ones say the prisoners subjected to extreme heat are in fact doing their time and they weren’t given death sentences.
“The state has a constitutional obligation to make sure that the folks who are incarcerated are not subject to cruel and unusual punishment,” Homiak said. “The constitution requires that if we house people in prisons that we cannot torture them. If the state has a surplus of tens of billions of dollars then I certainly think that’s something they can afford to address.”
TDCJ spokeswoman Amanda Hernandez issued the following statement:
“TDCJ appreciates and respects the decision of the federal court as announced yesterday to deny preliminary injunctive relief in the Tiede lawsuit. TDCJ is fully committed to the safety of the inmate population and our staff, and that commitment is reflected in TDCJ’s ongoing efforts to install air conditioning, identify inmates who are heat sensitive and implement heat mitigation protocols. TDCJ also very much appreciates the past and planned support of the Legislature in making funding available to continue TDCJ’s ongoing installation of air conditioning in more units and housing areas throughout the TDCJ system.”
Judge Pitman ruled that the state will likely lose when the lawsuit goes to trial and should be prepared to implement air conditioning in all units as quickly as possible.
“The Court warns [TDCJ Executive Director Bryan] Collier that it foresees Plaintiffs being entitled to permanent relief in the form of expeditious installation of permanent air conditioning in all TDCJ facilities,” the ruling states. “Collier is implored to take the necessary steps to be prepared for this result. The Court repeats that TDCJ’s current plan to install permanent air conditioning — which on the most generous timeline, would not be complete for another 25 years — is insufficient under the Eighth Amendment.
“While the Court has recognized the obstacles of funding, investigatory work, designing, and other practical considerations in its ruling on the preliminary injunction, the Court does not expect those factors to prevent it from ultimately finding Plaintiffs have a right to an injunction in the form of permanent air conditioning. Should Collier fail to obtain sufficient funding and demonstrate to the Court a plan for achieving the goal of providing sufficient air conditioning for the inmates of TDCJ in a timely manner, the Court reserves its right to revisit its analysis regarding the balance of equities and public interest in this case.”
Homiak said the state agency ought to be holding a press conference on the steps of the state Capitol. The attorney added that he expects the trial will focus heavily on defining “expeditious” as it relates to installing air conditioning in Texas prisons.
“Certainly we want to do everything we can to make sure nobody else dies in a Texas prison due to extreme heat,” he said. “We’re not asking for people to be comfortable. We’re asking for them to be kept in safe temperatures which our experts have defined as below 85 degrees. We are talking about people who are literally being cooked to death.”
Pending Legislation
Texas jails are required to maintain a temperature of under 85 degrees. Temperature standards also are imposed on federal prisons. House Bill 489, sponsored by Rep. Jon Rosenthal, D-Cypress, and Senate Bill 169, sponsored by Sen. Jose Menendez, D-San Antonio, call for state prison temperatures to be no less than 65 degrees and no greater than 85 degrees. Both bills are pending committee hearings.
Traditionally such legislation has died in committee for lack of GOP support and with a Republican-majority Legislature, advocates say the upcoming trial is their best bet for immediate change.
Homiak said he believes that if Director Collier went before the Legislature tomorrow and declared an emergency that’s contributing to the loss of life, he’d probably get support.
During the 88th Texas Legislative session in 2023, the TDCJ received $85 million to install additional air conditioning in state prisons. According to the agency’s website, the Legislative Appropriations Request for the Fiscal Year 2026-27 biennium includes an exceptional item request for $118 million for the installation of air conditioning. “If approved, this would provide an additional 16,000 air-conditioned beds to the system, which would bring the total number of air-conditioned beds to more than 78,000,” officials said.
The state agency launched an online dashboard last year to track “cool beds” as they’re being installed in various prisons across the state.
Until air conditioning is installed in every Texas prison, advocates and families of the incarcerated say they’ll continue to fight.
“It’s heartbreaking. I do this because I don’t feel like I have a choice,” Naranjo said of her advocacy for temperature control in Texas prisons. “Somebody else is going to get a call tonight saying that their child is no longer with us or that they failed to resuscitate. I don’t do it for me and Jon. I do it for the mother who’s going to get the call tonight.”
