联邦法官下令得克萨斯州须在2029年底前为所有监狱安装空调
A federal judge has ordered Texas to air condition all of the state’s lockups, which the prison agency said could cost $1.5 billion, by the end of 2029.
The ruling, released Tuesday, is a win for inmate advocates and their attorneys, who had asked the court to force the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to cool the entire prison system by that time. Just over a third of the agency’s 104 facilities were fully air conditioned as of Sept. 1.
In his order, U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman found that conditions in Texas prisons without air conditioning violate the Eighth Amendment — which protects against cruel and unusual punishment — and that TDCJ’s current response to extreme heat is insufficient.
Pitman ordered the agency to immediately create and implement a plan to add air conditioning in every Texas prison. The installation, he said, must be completed no later than Dec. 31, 2029.
“In the face of clear evidence of risk — including ongoing injuries, deaths, and suffering every summer — Director [Bobby] Lumpkin’s failure to enact a meaningful, committed plan to install air-conditioning on the timeline that TDCJ has repeatedly indicated is possible is deliberate indifference,” the judge wrote in his 150-page order.
The decision followed a federal trial that took place earlier this year in Austin. It also came after Pitman, appointed by former President Barack Obama, declared in a 2025 ruling that excessive heat in Texas prisons is likely “unconstitutional punishment.” But the judge declined at the time to require TDCJ to install temporary air conditioning, reasoning that the option was not a permanent solution and was unlikely to be accomplished before a preliminary ruling would expire.
TDCJ said it will appeal Pitman’s ruling, adding that it disagrees with the judge’s finding that it has acted with deliberate indifference.
“TDCJ has robust heat mitigation efforts in place to protect the safety of its population and staff,” the department said in a statement. “The agency continues improving heat mitigation measures to ensure they are effective, consistent and ingrained in operations.”
The agency also said it expects to increase the number of cool beds to 60,000 by the end of this year, nearly doubling the figure from 2018. It anticipates growing this number to 90,000 in 2028.
That timeline would still leave a large number of Texas inmates without air conditioning. The state’s prison population is projected to top 150,000 by 2028.
Marci Marie Simmons, previously incarcerated in Texas, called the ruling a “huge win.” She is also the communications director for the Lioness Justice Impacted Women’s Alliance, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. Other plaintiffs include Texas Prison Community Advocates and the Texas Citizens United for Rehabilitation of Errants.
“We’re just so excited,” Simmons said, laughing and crying. “This decision is going to save lives, and that’s huge.”
Jennifer Toon, the Lioness’ executive director, added in a statement: “This is a historic, landmark decision and a victory for every incarcerated person in Texas. Lioness proves what happens when formerly incarcerated women and trans people organize, fight, and lead. We win. Texas is not a lost cause. We are the hope.”
Amite Dominick, Texas Prison Community Advocates’ founder, said advocates will work to ensure that the agency meets the mandated timeline.
“An order on paper is not the same as relief in a cell,” Dominick said in a statement. “Our work now is to make sure this timeline is met, that the Legislature funds it, and that no one else dies waiting for the state to do what the Constitution requires.”
Pitman instructed TDCJ to submit status reports to the court every six months — with the first due by March 22, 2027, in the middle of the next legislative session. The judge said he is not dictating the agency’s approach or “at this juncture” appointing a special master to monitor TDCJ’s progress.
A fight over funding
Pitman’s new order could throw a wrench into the agency’s budget planning for the 2028-29 biennium.
Publicly unveiled on Aug. 28, TDCJ’s legislative appropriations request includes $289 million specifically for installing prison air conditioning. It also asked state lawmakers for $591.8 million to build expansion dorms with climate control. Combined, the agency said the proposals would create more than 21,000 cool beds.
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