HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP WANTS TEXAS PRISONS AIR CONDITIONED BECAUSE 0.0093 PERCENT OF INMATES DIED FROM HEAT-RELATED ILLNESSES

There are 150,000 Texas prison inmates and 14 have died from heat-related illnesses since 2007

“Texas Inmates Still Have Rights” is an op ed by Ariel Dulitzky, Alex Goeman and Samantha Chen that appeared in Monday’s Houston Chronicle. Dulitzky is the director of the Human Rights Clinic at The University of Texas School of Law and the other two are law school students. The three hug-a-convict activists bemoan the fact that temperatures inside Texas prison cells often exceed 100 degrees and that at least 14 inmates have died from heat-related illnesses since 2007.

Dulitzky, Goeman and Chen say that Texas prison inmates are being held under inhumane conditions in violation of their Constitutional rights against cruel and unusual punishment. They point to other states that have air conditioned their prisons and say Texas should do no less. They add that “even detainees at Guantanamo Bay are provided with air-conditioned cells.”

The trio wrote:

It is important to remember that, despite their incarceration, inmates retain an inviolable set of rights: the rights to dignity, health, life and freedom from cruel, unusual, inhuman or degrading treatment. The heat in Texas prisons continues to violate all of these rights, and there is no excuse for this blatant disregard for fundamental human rights.

A union representing Texas correctional officers also wants the prisons air conditioned. Of course they do. Who wouldn’t want to work in an air conditioned environment during hot and humid times. One of my granddaughters is a Texas correctional officer, but as far as I know she has not complained about the heat conditions on the job.

I realize that it’s a big deal to the families of inmates that have died from heat-related illnesses. However, when you look at the overall picture, 14 inmates out of 150,000 comes to only 0.0093 percent, and that is nothing to get all exercised about. Actually, the annual percentage rate is much less than 0.0093 because the 14 deaths are spread over a seven-year time span. If I'm correct, that averages out to only 0.000013 percent per year.

The hug-a-convict types want Texas to spend millions of dollars to air condition its prisons in order to prevent an average of two deaths per year. Fine, but let them pay for it!