It's hot, it's humid, the walls hold heat. It gets pretty bad," says correctional officer Sgt. Anthony Williams. "If it was 100 degrees outside, it's about 115, 120 on the inside. And offenders may get more violent."
He continues, "It would definitely be nice to have air-conditioned units. It'd be better for us and the offender population."
This issue is not going away. A study published last year by the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia Law School points out that heat waves are becoming more severe, the U.S. inmate population is getting older and most of the nation's 1,700 state prisons are wholly unprepared. Expect more "cruel and unusual punishment" lawsuits focused on hot prisons.