Families of Victims Who Died From Heat in Prison Fight to Prevent More Deaths

The Central California Women’s Facility, the nation’s largest women’s prison, is in Chowchilla, where temperatures reached past 90 degrees by the second week of May. The prison lacks air conditioning or any facility-wide cooling system, turning cells into saunas.

“I dread going to my groups at night because we have to wait forever at the gates and we cannot bring water with us. We can’t take water bottles to the main yard and my groups are on the main yard, so I am SOL,” 45-year-old Tien Mo wrote on May 11, an afternoon when temperatures reached 96 degrees.

Dehydration is just one concern. People behind bars are particularly vulnerable to heat-related harm, including death. A 2019 study by the Prison Policy Initiative found that 13 states in the hottest parts of the U.S. lack universal air conditioning in their prisons, meaning that while some areas, such as the chapel, visiting room or administrative offices, might have air conditioning, others, such as housing units, do not. A 2023 study found that extreme heat was associated with higher overall mortality behind bars. Researchers found that, for every 10 degrees increase above the prison’s mean summer temperature, nearly five percent of deaths (from all causes) could be attributed to the heat.

Read the full article from Truthout here.