During deadly heat waves — like the near-historic one that plagued much of the United States this week — one population is particularly vulnerable: people behind bars.
Over the past two decades, extreme heat coupled with inadequate ventilation and outdated infrastructure have amplified already-grim conditions for the over one million Americans in correctional facilities. One study found that approximately 13 percent of deaths behind bars in Texas during warm months may be attributable to extreme heat. Another reported that an unsafe heat index — the “feels like” temperature — can increase violent interactions in prison by 20 percent. High temperatures also correlate with a 30 percent increase in daily suicide-watch incidents, scholars say. Even states known for cooler weather in the Midwest and Pacific Northwest are contending with stifling heat in prisons, as facilities there frequently do not have appropriate infrastructure to manage extreme heat.
As the earth warms at an “unprecedented rate,” extreme temperatures have become commonplace in some parts of the country. Last year was the warmest year on record, NASA reported, and it is only getting hotter.
