AUSTIN, Texas – A study conducted by the University of Texas Law School's Human Rights Clinic suggests that not enough is being done in Texas prisons to alleviate extremely hot living conditions for inmates.
A clinic publication, "Reckless Indifference; Deadly Texas Prisons," states that 14 inmates have died in Texas prisons from heat-related causes since 2007.
"We need to cool down. We need to take measures," said UT Law School professor Ariel Dulitzky of the school's Human Rights Clinic.
The study questions the Texas Department of Criminal Justice's position that measures are already being taken to keep prisoners comfortable during the hot summer months.
Though prison spokesmen would not comment on the study since the issue of hot prisons is the focus of several lawsuits and the Criminal Justice Department does not discuss pending litigation, they said that air-conditioned units are available for inmates with special medical needs.
The department said that ice and shower opportunities are available to ensure that offenders' living conditions are humane.
"If you commit a crime, yes, you have to be in prison," Dulitzky said. "We are not asking for five-star hotel living conditions but we want basic human dignity."
He said that interviews with inmates revealed that shower water temperatures are too hot, temperatures in individual cells are unbearable and that only a minimum amount of ice is provided.
Dulitzky said that the solution to the problem is money.
"It's not adding more money," he said. "It's using the money in a more efficient and humane manner."
He said that money used to fight pending lawsuits, for instance, could be used to improve prison living conditions.
The alternative, Dulitzky predicted, could mean serious trouble for the state's prisons.
"If we don't do that, sooner or later we will have the federal government running our prisons," he warned.