Nearly a month into a stifling heat wave, corrections officials are attempting to alleviate sweltering conditions in Florida’s unairconditioned prisons, but advocates for inmates say the efforts fall short and aren’t being carried out the same way at all facilities.
Throughout July, inmates’ supporters pressed the Department of Corrections to take steps to offer some relief to the roughly 85,000 people locked up in prisons.
Last week, advocates scored a victory when department officials agreed to allow inmates to wear shorts and T-shirts instead of the mandated standard “Class A” clothing — undershirts, dress shirts, underwear, long pants, socks and shoes or boots — for most of the day.
Senate Criminal and Civil Justice Appropriations Chairwoman Jennifer Bradley, a Republican whose sprawling North Florida district includes a number of prisons, said she has worked for weeks with Department of Corrections Secretary Ricky Dixon to find ways to mitigate the effects of what has been record-breaking heat in some areas of the state.
“This is something that has been an issue for many, many years. But this summer has been really unprecedented, unrelenting. I hear from (inmates’) loved ones, but more importantly, I visit prisons and when I go and visit, it is just oppressive,” Bradley, R-Fleming Island, told The News Service of Florida this week, adding that the state has “an aging prison population” that also will have to be addressed in the future.
Many prisons are decades old — as an example, Union Correctional Institution, which is in Bradley’s district, has been operating since 1913 — and installing air conditioning in all facilities would be expensive and take years to complete. Also, some aging facilities don’t have infrastructure that can be retrofitted for modern cooling systems.
Temperatures inside buildings without air conditioning can soar 15 degrees higher than the temperature outside. That means temperatures over 100 degrees last month put the thermometer above 115 inside prisons in some regions.
Dixon late last week “temporarily lifted uniform restrictions” to permit inmates to wear shorts and T-shirts, or “Class C” uniforms, Department of Corrections spokesman Paul Walker confirmed.
Bradley praised Dixon’s move.
“There was a free solution out there, and that was to allow inmates to wear shorts and T-shirts, to just change the uniform requirements, so that they weren’t wearing long pants and multiple layers on top … So really it was a change in policy that was no cost to DOC (the Department of Corrections),” Bradley said. “Does it get us where we need to be? No. But it is a really good, great, first step by DOC. Absolutely.”
But Denise Rock, executive director of Florida Cares Charity Corp., said not all inmates are being allowed to shed extra layers. As she fields hundreds of messages from inmates’ loved ones expressing concern about the heat and reporting conditions at facilities, Rock said not all prisons are following Dixon’s directive.
“It just seems to be wildly all over the place, not any consistency with institutions. So we still are continuing to go back and forth to try and get some consistency,” Rock told the News Service. “I believe that the administration up in Tallahassee, I believe they get it. But the boots on the ground, those officers, they don’t.”
Rock’s group for weeks pleaded with corrections officials to relax the uniform standards. But she’s also asking them to reduce indoor temperatures by turning off lights during the day, boosting the number of fans in common living areas and providing access to showers throughout the day.
When asked about mitigation measures, department spokesman Walker said the agency has “air-conditioned housing units serving the most vulnerable inmate populations, including the infirmed, mentally ill, pregnant and geriatric.”
Day-use areas, including chapels, medical facilities and administration offices, are equipped with air conditioning, Walker added. Institutions also are audited and comply with federal standards.
Some prisons built before air conditioning was common “were instead designed to facilitate airflow to provide natural cooling within them,” according to Walker.
“All non-air-conditioned dorms use some form of climate control to mitigate heat, such as fans or exhaust systems, which create a high level of air exchange to cool the building. These housing units also incorporate other fans, such as a ceiling or wall-mounted circulation fans. In addition, all housing units contain refrigerated water fountains to provide a source of cool water for the inmate population,” he said.
The department did not respond to several requests for Dixon’s memo about the uniform standards. Rock is pressing corrections officials to be more open about what they’re doing to address the heat.
“We could handle this so much better if DOC would be transparent and just share the memo,” she said. “So we all know what should be done, and then when a warden isn’t doing it, or the officer isn’t doing it on the institutional level, somebody can share. Why does it have to be a big secret?”
Meanwhile, Bradley said corrections officials also pledged to provide inmates “greater access to cold water” as the heat persists.
“These are things that we should be able, as a state, to provide — cold water, cool uniforms. These are things, short of AC, that do make a difference,” she said.
Bradley said she’s continuing to work with corrections officials to explore other mitigation efforts, such as providing more shade around outdoor pavilions and using misting fans.
Cynthia Cooper said her husband, Vohn, was in confinement last week in a small cell with no windows and no ventilation at Tomoka Correctional Institution in Volusia County. Four “medium-sized” wall fans and a large exhaust fan were inadequate to cool a common area, she said.
“Right now, it’s 97 degrees where I’m at. So if it’s 97 degrees outside, you have to add 15 degrees to that inside that dorm. There’s 80 men in that dorm. It’s just ridiculous,” she told the News Service.
Sen. Jason Pizzo, D-Hollywood, also has visited numerous prisons and receives messages from inmates’ loved ones about conditions at the facilities.
Pizzo said he relayed concerns posted on social media to corrections officials. Speaking to the News Service, he rattled off a number of issues at institutions throughout the state, including a broken water line at one facility that led prison staff to provide bottled water to inmates.
“We have really old, dilapidated, inefficient structures and plants and operations that need to be replaced,” Pizzo said.
–Dara Kam, News Service of Florida
C’mon man says
Don’t go to jail. Problem solved
Dennis C Rathsam says
Who gives a rats ass?????? This is Fl, its hot in the summertime.It was hot here in the 20,s 30s 40s, 50s, 60s, ect… Now U want me to be sorry for a jailbird, cos he got no A/C! Wake up America…Thier there for a reason! It aint summer camp.
Jay Tomm says
Your in prison…it’s not supposed to be easy.
Bill Boots says
AMEN, if the top dogs were Dems, we wouldn’t be reading this, we’d be reading about Trump jay walking or whatever, prison stays are not 5 star vacations……..
BILL says
AMEN!
Doug says
I’d give two rats asses if those prisoners are hot or cold. You commit crimes that put you in prison, then suck it up stupid and suffer the consequences of your ignorance. Those of us who are smart enough to stay out of prison, work hard for our money, and pay our taxes, and I’ll be damn if I’m going to support A/C or heat in prison to keep your sorry asses comfortable. In words that some of you may understand, FUK OFF.
Skibum says
While I am not crying a river for all of the convicted felons who are feeling uncomfortable in the heat within the FL prison walls, we have to remember that this state’s prison system is NOT Devil’s Island where the felons are transported by boat and then left there in complete isolation to fend for themselves and don’t have to be guarded. No, there are many, many prison staff working long hours day in and day out in every prison facility in this state. If the employees were your family members, would you be so callous as to say you don’t care about providing air conditioning within the buildings where temps are in excess of 100 degrees? If we expect prison employees to be productive and stay healthy and happy so the state doesn’t have to keep hiring more and more people to replace those who quit due to horrible working conditions, then I don’t think it is too much to ask the state to provide adequate air conditioning in areas where staff have to spend 8-10 hours inside monitoring the convicted felons, nor is it too much to ask that even convicted felons be treated humanely just like they are treated in other states where prison facilities in hot climates routinely build their prison facilities with air conditioning throughout the buildings. It should be a no-brainer, but again, we are talking about Flori-DUH, the backwards state in so many ways.
Nancy says
Y’all are acting like there aren’t any wrongfully accused people in prison. Innocent people take plea deals all the time because they’re scared to potentially get more time after an unfair trial or because their joke of a public defender convinced them it was the only good option. Not to mention the disturbing number of people who were framed by police and railroaded by the courts. How about people doing life sentences for relatively minor drug charges? Your precious COs that are also there in the sweltering heat day in and day out? Those people are still human beings and everyone who thinks every last one of them deserves nothing but suffering 24/7, regardless of the situations and circumstances that caused them to end up there, there’s something seriously wrong with y’all and you’re no better than those inmates you loathe so much. What kind of sick individual derives satisfaction from the misery and intentional mistreatment of 85k+ strangers?? They have terms to describe people like y’all but I’m too polite to say them in public. All I can say is I hope no one you love ever finds themself in the penal system, cuz with y’all to advocate and care for them it’s gonna be a long, hard time behind the wall.
Pogo says
@Thank you Skibum, and FlaglerLive
Live and learn:
https://www.google.com/search?q=nixon+men+who+preached+prison+reform+after+doing+time
The dude says
The only prisoners MAGA is concerned about are the Jan 6 traitors and seditionists… and soon, god willing, the OG, the orange stain, the tiny handed MAGA Magi himself…
Earnest T Bass says
Bill Boots that is B.S. you commit the crime you do the time and Trumpee will go to prison….
Skibum says
Well said. I am would bet that had this article been about the many other state services and buildings that people living here routinely go into having no air conditioning forcing everyone inside to swelter in 100+ degree temps, the comments would be blasting the State of Florida for having its employees endure conditions akin to a third world county. But when it comes to prisons, the same people don’t give a rat’s ass about the working conditions and think the state employees should be made to suffer like THEY have somehow committed the same crime as those who are incarcerated. Some people unfortunately show an appalling lack of decency toward others.
Nancy N. says
One need only look at the state’s private, for-profit, prisons – which have air conditioning – to know that it makes sense to provide it. Those entities aren’t burdened by politics and public perception in their decision making but only by the financial bottom line. If they are paying for a/c, that means there is an advantage to it for them as a company. Those advantages include less behavior problems caused by heat stressed inmates, lower medical costs, and better ability to hire and retain employees.
Mrs. Kenny says
I personally had to teach for an entire month in Florida’s glorious public school with no ac or windows. Let’s see if we can worry about our kids and other at risk populations first.
Pierre Tristam says
Human rights are not a zero-sum game.
Mary Fusco says
How many working poor and indigent people, who have never committed a crime in their lives are living without proper air conditioning and heat because they cannot afford it? I don’t see anyone crying a river for them. If AC is a human right, these people deserve it also.
Pogo says
@Void where simple decency is no longer practiced
The Lord’s Prayer
9 Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
10 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever.
Amen.
These are the words from the Lord’s prayer in Matthew 6:9-13, King James Bible.
Celia M pugliese says
I agree with Nancy…well said. Thank you for the report Flaglerlive! Lets do not be inhumane.
Skibum says
The difference is that when a person is incarcerated in state prison, the state becomes the “parent” and is legally responsible for that person’s health and wellbeing, food, shelter, medical needs, protection, the whole shebang, because the state has taken that person’s ability to get those things and make decisions on their own away from them. You and I both know, no matter how unfortunate it may be, that not everyone’s lives have the same opportunities, nor the same financial intuition, some people just make poor decisions or don’t prioritize their needs appropriately, etc, etc. We cannot live other people’s lives for them, nor can, or should, the government be the parent for everyone in society. When you take away someone’s freedom, it becomes a totally different ballgame.
Skibum says
I had intended to say working AND living conditions
Citizen Woke says
Was thinking of what to reply to Bill Boots and then saw Earnest’s post. You said it all. Thank you, Earnest.
Progress says
5G Antenna Tower up in your front yard is also Humane Celia! Take a hit for the P.C. team.
Dave says
So murderers of men , women and children deserve better, or people that push drugs that kill children, or child abusers, I say nope. You do the crime and you will suffer the penalties. There is NO free ride in crime when you are caught and in prison.