Every Summer, We Talk About Deadly Prison Heat. And Every Summer, Politicians Ignore It.

I’ve been a criminal justice reform advocate for several years now.

And every summer like clockwork, you see the same headlines:

“Sweltering prison cells.”

“No air conditioning.”

“Dangerously high heat index puts incarcerated people at risk.”

And every summer, major nonprofit organizations, journalists like me, and family advocates all issue the same desperate warnings: People are DYING in American prisons because they have no way to cool down.

Oh, haven’t you heard? The “Land of the Free” incarcerates more than anyone in the world, Be-Tee-Dubs.

Yet here we are again, and the people in power still don’t care.

So what is it exactly that we’re accomplishing?

And what is it going to take to convince politicians and public officials to be humane and address this?

Since FOIA is the absolute worst here in Michigan and lobbying runs rampant, can some HVAC company give these people some kickbacks already, for crying out loud?

Are HVAC Political Action Committees even a thing?

Edit: Yes, HVAC PACs are INDEED a thing. Time to write to your local HVAC PAC! Get them on the phone immediately, good grief!

Newsflash: Heat Isn’t Just Uncomfortable. It’s Deadly for EVERYONE. Staff included.

In many states, especially across the South and Midwest, temperatures routinely hit triple digits. Inside concrete prison cells with poor ventilation and no air conditioning, that means indoor temps can soar well past 100°F.

People with medical conditions, older adults, and people on psychiatric medications are especially vulnerable to heat stroke, dehydration, and death.

These deaths are preventable.

The evidence is clear.

And the conditions never change.

By Now, Politicians Know. They Just Don’t Care.

This is not some hidden injustice.

It’s been documented in California, Texas, Alabama (where they will also steal your organs, by the way), Louisiana, Michigan…you name it. Lawsuits have been filed. Reports have been written. Families have buried their loved ones and begged for change.

Still, year after year, the same politicians who claim to care about “law and order” shrug off the basic fact that extreme heat is a human rights issue. From the comfort of their air conditioned offices, they subject people to significant risk.

Air conditioning is not a luxury; in places built like ovens, it is life-saving infrastructure.

And Staff, who already work under crappy conditions and often poor leadership, also pay the price; they’re doing time right along side the convicted.

And the unions and politicians have the unmitigated gall to wonder why they can’t find and keep staff.

Advocates Keep Fighting. No One Is Listening.

Major nonprofits and local grassroots groups work tirelessly to push for temperature regulations, better infrastructure, and emergency cooling measures. But they’re fighting a system that fundamentally sees incarcerated people as disposable.

The Eighth Amendment prohibits cruel and unusual punishment, yet cooking people alive in concrete boxes seems to pass muster for lawmakers who think human dignity ends at the prison gate.

Constitutional rights only seem to matter when it’s their own rights being infringed upon and no one else.

The United Nations established The Nelson Mandela rules, minimum standards for the treatment of incarcerated individuals.

American prisons fail to meet many of them.

This Is More Than a Summer Story. It’s One of Moral Failure.

If you feel frustrated reading this, good.

That’s exactly what I want from you, keep that big anger energy up. I need you to be just as pissed off as the rest of us.

Because this NEEDS to stop.

I’m so tired of politicians acting like they don’t know.

You know.

We know that you know.

Because the cycle won’t break unless we stop treating these headlines as seasonal filler news.

100% of people in prison are still people. And the people that state legislators, Judges, and Prosecutors force to live in cages are still human beings.

They should not be dying from preventable heat exposure because “public servants” are indifferent to human suffering unless they’re impacted.

I dare say, for something to change, we’ll have to hold elected officials accountable for ignoring these warnings.

…Every. Single. Summer.

If it happens on their watch, they should be charged with manslaughter and have to spend some extended time in a prison.

Because if they can find millions in a budget for new prisons, they can find room to at least make them habitable.

And Now…This.

What You Can Do

Contact your legislators: Demand that your appointed village idiot elected official actually cuts their excuses and funds cooling systems in prisons.

Support productive advocates in the fight: Donate to local groups that fight for prison condition reform. Not the ones who just talk about it. The ones who do, like Michigan Citizens for Prison Reform.

Share the stories: Keep the pressure on. Public outrage works but only when we don’t let up.

If all else fails, try the HVAC PAC. Because clearly money has to change hands to make politicians care.

Summer After Summer, The Message is the SAME.

But maybe, just maybe, this is the year we make it impossible for politicians to keep pretending they didn’t hear us.