We Are the Hope
Dear Friends of TDS,
We have important news to share from Texas! On Tuesday, a federal judge ordered the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to install air conditioning in every state prison by the end of 2029.
This incredible victory is thanks to painstaking, years-long advocacy by the lawyers and plaintiffs, including advocates from Lioness Justice Impacted Women’s Alliance.
Roughly 90,000 people in Texas prisons live in units without air conditioning. Every summer, temperatures inside routinely climb past 100 degrees, and the effects are serious and even deadly. Judge Robert Pitman’s order describes people getting sick and passing out, and becoming so desperate for relief that they went to extreme lengths to stay cool, including splashing toilet water on themselves.
Air conditioning has been slow to come because the state has treated it as optional, and uses the high cost as an excuse to continue with this cruelty. Bills to require air conditioning have failed in the legislature across multiple sessions, and lawmakers have passed on using budget surpluses to pay for it.
That’s why this ruling matters. A federal court has said that leaving people in dangerous heat is unconstitutional and it has set a deadline.
This win belongs to the people who brought the case. Lioness Justice Impacted Women’s Alliance was the heart and power behind this landmark victory. As an organization whose membership includes formerly and currently incarcerated women and gender-expansive people, they shared their members’ first hand experience suffering through the extreme temperatures and fears of dying from the heat.
Jennifer Toon, Lioness’ Executive Director, said, “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.” Please read and share Lioness’s press release widely.
We’re so grateful to Lioness and to the other plaintiffs and attorneys who saw this case through. Thank you for not giving up on incarcerated Texans.
With much joy and gratitude,
Burke Butler and Randi Chavez
Co-Executive Directors
Texas Defender Service
