Texas must fully air-condition its prisons by the end of 2029, a federal judge ordered on Tuesday, saying the lack of cooling in most lockups in the sun-blasted state violates the U.S. Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
The ruling from U.S. District Court Judge Robert Pitman was a major victory for prisoners’ rights advocates, who have complained for decades about poor conditions behind bars.
In his 150-page order, Judge Pitman, of the Western District of Texas, said that the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, which operates the country’s largest prison system, had “failed to act with reasonable urgency or commitment to install air-conditioning.”
“In a state where outdoor heat indexes exceed 130 degrees, inmates in Texas prisons are suffering — and in some cases dying — in extreme heat every summer,” Judge Pitman wrote.
The decision came nearly six months after the case went to trial, one of the most extensive attempts to mandate that a state cool its prisons. The suit was initially brought by one inmate, but several advocacy organizations representing people incarcerated in prisons statewide joined.
Texas oversees an inmate population of about 140,000, and close to two-thirds live in areas without air-conditioning, according to the state prison agency’s website. Heat readings from inside state lockups have regularly topped 100 degrees in recent years, and the state received nearly 15,000 inmate grievances related to heat over the past three summers, court records said.
Texas prison officials have acknowledged that 23 people had died from heat-related causes between 1998 and 2012 and that high indoor temperatures have caused staff illnesses and injuries. But they emphasized in court filings that they have worked to add more air-conditioning each year and that they take certain measures during the hottest months, including allowing inmates access to cool respite areas and conducting wellness checks.
The plaintiffs presented evidence of additional heat deaths more recently. Climate experts also testified at trial that they expected Texas to have increasing temperatures and more heat waves in the future.
In his order, Judge Pitman, an Obama appointee, asked the state to submit status reports to the court every six months, describing their progress on installing air-conditioning. The first report, due on March 22, 2027, must describe the state’s plan to complete installation, as well as how much funding officials will request from the Texas Legislature. The judge said that “financial considerations” would not be a legitimate reason for failing to comply with his order.
In a statement, Erica Grossman, a lawyer representing the plaintiffs, said that the order would “save countless lives, enable incarcerated individuals to serve their sentences without enduring needless and unconstitutional suffering, and provide relief for all of people who live and work in these tortuous conditions.”
In recent years, the Legislature has allocated some funding for air-conditioning in its prisons, some of which are more than a century old. On its website, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice reported that as of Sept. 1, 53,676 beds were available in air-conditioned areas. By early 2028, it said it expects that number to reach 90,000.
Judge Pitman said that the pace of installing air-conditioners was “far too slow,” especially considering that the state’s prison population was expected to grow by nearly 10,000 by August 2027, according to estimates from the Legislative Budget Board.
Recently, the state prison agency said it was asking the Legislature for $298 million in the next budget cycle, which begins next September, to cool prisons, far less than the $1 billion prison agency officials have said they would need to air-condition all of its prisons.
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice did not immediately answer questions about whether it intends to alter its appropriations request in light of the ruling. The attorney general’s office, which represented the state prison agency, did not return requests for comment and has not yet indicated whether it will appeal.
During the trial this year, former inmates offered at times harrowing testimony about falling sick because of the extreme heat. Some said they had been so desperate they would splash toilet water on themselves in attempt to cool off. Others said they suffered heat-induced seizures or watched others intentionally harm themselves so they could be moved to an air-conditioned medical area.
Marci Marie Simmons, who was previously incarcerated and one of the plaintiffs, said in a phone interview on Tuesday that the ruling was “a huge step toward humanity.”
“All of Texas should be proud,” Ms. Simmons said. “We believe this ruling will set precedents throughout the South.”
Prison heat cases in several other states are ongoing, though the one in Texas was considered the most far-reaching. In a federal case in Florida, plaintiffs say the conditions with the heat at one facility, Dade Correctional, are unconstitutional. And in Missouri, plaintiffs are fighting in state court to get air-conditioning for particularly vulnerable inmates.
Ms. Grossman, the lawyer for the Texas plaintiffs, said she was hopeful this case would serve as a precedent nationwide. It is “inhumane to cook people to death as a punishment in prison,” she said.
Texas prison inmates have been challenging the lack of air-conditioning for years. More than a decade ago, inmates in a geriatric prison in Texas sued over extreme heat, and the two sides reached a settlement to install air-conditioning in that unit. Since then, advocacy groups have tried to push lawmakers to pass a bill that would require complete air-conditioning across the prison system, but those bills have never passed both chambers of the Legislature.
The current case stems from 2023, when Bernie Tiede, whose criminal case was depicted in the movie “Bernie,” sued the state after he said he had a stroke in a cell without air-conditioning. Mr. Tiede was no longer party to the case once it reached trial because the prison agency moved him to housing with air-conditioning.
Lauren McGaughy contributed reporting.
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