Journalists: Tips on how to Examine Warmth in Prisons

Learn this primary

Warmth waves and days with temperatures above 100 levels Fahrenheit have gotten extra frequent, due to local weather change. This poses a severe risk to folks behind bars. When exterior temperatures exceed 100 levels, warmth indexes in prisons and jails can attain 150 levels, research present, as a result of the amenities lure warmth.

Folks behind bars, together with workers, typically haven’t any reprieve from hovering temperatures, placing them in danger for severe heat-related accidents. In some circumstances, excessive warmth may be deadly.

This toolkit is designed to help reporters in overlaying the affect of maximum warmth on prisons or jails of their neighborhood. In case you’re on deadline overlaying a warmth wave in your space, we suggest skipping forward to the assets part under, the place you’ll discover related lawsuits, analysis research and consultants to contact.

The authorized context

Excessive warmth behind bars is a civil rights problem for incarcerated folks. Greater than 1,200 federal circumstances on this problem have been filed between 1980 and 2019, and State Courtroom Report discovered that greater than 500 lawsuits about warmth in prisons have been filed up to now 5 years.

Many authorized challenges on this problem argue that extended publicity to excessive temperatures quantities to merciless and strange punishment, a violation of the Eighth Modification. Excessive warmth may also be a violation of the People with Disabilities Act since folks with medical circumstances, akin to diabetes, bronchial asthma and sure coronary heart circumstances, are extra susceptible to heat-related sickness and loss of life. Regardless of rulings that extended publicity to excessive temperatures is unconstitutional, most judges cease wanting requiring air con in prisons and jails.

Litigation about warmth in prisons typically includes incarcerated people who find themselves nonetheless alive and have joined collectively to file a category motion lawsuit over inhumane circumstances or members of the family of the deceased who sue the jail system for a wrongful loss of life.

A notice on air con

Air con is the one most efficient technique for preserving indoor temperatures protected; nonetheless, most prisons, together with many within the hottest states within the South, aren’t totally air conditioned. In accordance with an investigation printed in July by Reuters, “practically half of state prisons throughout 29 states have partial or no air con in housing models.” Right here’s the database that Reuters created by requesting information in all states (not all of them responded), and right here’s their methodology.

In 2022, a USA At this time assessment of state jail programs discovered that 44 states wouldn’t have common air con. By comparability, practically 90% of U.S. houses use it.

Some states with air-conditioned prisons embody Tennessee, the place it’s common, and Arkansas, the place it has been common for many years. North Carolina is working by a long-term plan to set up air con in all state jail housing models. And lots of states have partial protection, together with Missouri, and Washington, which has air con in three of its prisons on the japanese facet of the state.

Preliminary Reporting Steps

Do a clip search

Begin with a seek for heat-related tales to see what has already been coated. Since 2014, The Marshall Venture has been curating a few of the finest prison justice reporting from across the internet. Our device referred to as The Document might help you discover the latest and authoritative articles on prison justice subjects, together with warmth behind bars.

You may seek for subjects akin to “warmth in jail” and “local weather change” to seek out curated lists of related articles from The Marshall Venture and different retailers.

Search for lawsuits

You may test for related lawsuits by Google searches, PACER, CourtListener, the Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse and any digital court docket database in your state. You may also seek for the title of your state’s jail system and your native jail or sheriff’s workplace.

PACER will offer you the names of people that have sued over different jail abuses and circumstances, exactly the sort of people that may reply your letter about warmth or the rest that’s going fallacious. It’s additionally value trying up if a decide or court docket in your state has dominated that excessive warmth is merciless and strange punishment

We’ve offered an inventory of related lawsuits within the assets part under.

See in case your state has a correctional oversight physique

Some states have oversight companies that look into jail circumstances and abuse. It’s attainable they could have details about warmth in your state’s jail system. The Nationwide Useful resource Middle for Correctional Oversight supplies this map, which breaks down key particulars about these companies, and here’s a 50-state stock.

In case your state has one among these our bodies, ask if they’ve any stories on warmth in prisons, and attain out to them any time you’re overlaying a narrative about jail circumstances or abuses.

See if there’s been related laws

Lawmakers have launched various payments trying to reform warmth mitigation insurance policies in carceral settings. One instance is Texas Home Invoice 3006, which died within the state Senate within the spring of 2025. This Texas Tribune article particulars how the invoice would have required that local weather management programs be put in in phases, with completion by 2032. You may test what laws has been launched in your state by looking out your state’s legislative web site in addition to the categorized databases provided by the Nationwide Convention of State Legislatures, which embody launched laws and coverage enactments in every state and Washington, D.C.

Use this free illustration

You might be welcome to republish the offered illustration inside any tales derived from the supplies on this toolkit, together with any associated social media and e-newsletter promotion of these tales. Juan Bernabeu should be credited in all makes use of, and you may study extra concerning the illustrator right here. The illustration shouldn’t be printed in unrelated tales. The illustration shouldn’t be cropped or altered in any method. Please e-mail us with any questions.

Widespread story themes

The problem of warmth behind bars is multifaceted and may be coated from a number of angles. Listed below are themes you’re more likely to encounter throughout your reporting:

Getting older

Older adults are at larger threat of heat-related sickness and loss of life, and the overall variety of older incarcerated folks is rising. In accordance with evaluation of Bureau of Justice Statistics information, in 1991, folks aged 55 or older made up simply 3% of the nationwide jail inhabitants, however in 2021 they made up 15% of individuals in prisons throughout the U.S. By 2022, state and federal prisons housed 186,000 individuals who have been 55 or older.

Take into account asking for a breakdown of ages in your jail or jail, and ask if the ability makes particular preparations for older adults. In case you can, examine the age breakdown to earlier years: Is the typical age or share of susceptible age teams growing in your space?

Jail workers

Many correctional officers work lengthy shifts in models with out air con. (You may take heed to testimony right here about these harmful working circumstances from a labor union chief in Texas.)

The federal Occupational Security and Well being Administration has suggestions about warmth within the office, together with “temperature management within the vary of 68-76 levels Fahrenheit” for employees, however there are not any legally required requirements. Some states, akin to California, have adopted broad office warmth requirements, however they don’t embody prisons.

The affect of maximum warmth on employees typically exacerbates heat-related points for incarcerated folks. Many states are dealing with jail staffing declines as a result of poor working circumstances, and people shortages can make it more durable for the incarcerated to depart their cells or search reduction from excessive temperatures.

A great way into labor-related tales is to seek out out what state workplace handles employees’ compensation claims. In Texas, for instance, it’s the State Workplace of Danger Administration.

Take into account asking:

• What number of employees’ compensation claims or different stories of heat-related diseases or accidents have been recorded amongst workers. It’s possible you’ll need to have these damaged down by yr over a 5 or 10-year interval. If attainable, you need to request them by facility or area, in addition to the kinds of diseases or accidents.

• How a lot was paid out by the state for these claims every year.

• For any supporting documentation not topic to HIPAA or different privateness considerations describing the character of those heat-related accidents and diseases.

Staffing and jail inhabitants information may be obtained in a number of methods:

• Information that embody staffing numbers at completely different cut-off dates, akin to month-to-month correctional officer rosters. Typically these come from companies, however they may also be surfaced in data that’s reported and compiled on the state or native stage, such because the Annual Complete Monetary Report.

• Information that may rely the incarcerated inhabitants over time, like common every day counts or particular person inmate rosters. These information nearly at all times come from correctional departments.

Excessive warmth threat is spreading

Whereas this problem has traditionally affected prisons in Southern states, local weather change is inflicting larger temperatures over longer durations in different areas, too. For instance, the historic “warmth dome” throughout the Pacific Northwest in 2021 created harmful circumstances for incarcerated folks in that area.

In case you’re in a state that hasn’t handled excessive warmth traditionally, think about asking your facility about their planning and preparedness within the occasion of a warmth wave. You can additionally analysis if any climate information are being damaged in your state by utilizing the instruments we’ve offered right here. Native meteorologists, Nationwide Climate Service officers centered in your area and local weather scientists can all converse to native and regional traits.

Deaths from excessive warmth are underreported

Each “1-degree enhance above 85 levels Fahrenheit in prisons with out air con was related to a 0.7% enhance within the threat of every day mortality,” in accordance with a Brown College research of heat-related mortality in Texas prisons from 2001 to 2019. (You may learn knowledgeable testimony concerning the research right here, beginning on web page 150.)

One huge problem for confirming heat-related deaths is that prime temperatures exacerbate different well being points, together with heart problems, bronchial asthma, diabetes and extra. An post-mortem won’t point out heatstroke or hyperthermia as the reason for loss of life. As a substitute, the trigger could possibly be listed as one thing else, akin to a coronary heart or bronchial asthma assault.

Take into account asking a medical expert or coroner for loss of life information to look at causes of loss of life throughout warmth emergencies.

Psychological well being and violence

Researchers have discovered that hotter temperatures are related to extra violence and self-harm behind bars. Folks have faked suicide and even harmed themselves so as to be transferred to an air conditioned infirmary or psychiatric middle.

One associated issue is that some psychotropic drugs and blood strain medicine have an effect on the physique’s means to control temperature, so folks could cease taking their drugs when it’s excessively sizzling. Here’s a information from the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention on medication-heat interactions.

Take into account requesting incident stories for a interval of a number of years to see if there’s an uptick throughout summer time months or throughout particular warmth waves.

Ineffective cooling measures

Services typically use massive industrial followers that recirculate sizzling air; evaporative coolers often called “swamp coolers,” which aren’t as efficient as air con in climates with each extreme warmth and excessive humidity; modified ice chests with followers; and cooling rags. Services can also let you know that they distribute ice, water, and Gatorade; arrange cooling facilities; and restrict out of doors recreation.

It’s necessary to verify this stuff are taking place however these are all short-term stopgap measures that both aren’t very efficient at decreasing somebody’s temperature or aren’t sustainable throughout a big facility. For instance, the CDC advises that utilizing followers when it’s greater than 90 levels Fahrenheit can enhance physique temperature. The CDC additionally has security suggestions for folks with out air con of their houses, however of us behind bars sometimes aren’t capable of take these precautions.

Interviewing key sources

We’ve compiled inquiries to ask a few of the predominant stakeholders on this problem, together with corrections officers, advocacy teams and legal professionals, and incarcerated folks.

Inquiries to ask incarcerated sources

Private narratives are important for serving to audiences perceive how insufferable extreme warmth feels behind bars, and may spotlight the distinctive measures folks take to manage. Listed below are examples of non-public narratives on surviving excessive warmth behind bars, which The Marshall Venture produced in collaboration with the Jail Journalism Venture.

Take into account merely documenting the experiences of individuals in prisons or jails throughout warmth emergencies. Their firsthand accounts are sometimes fascinating sufficient for an preliminary story, and mean you can develop your ongoing protection or a bigger investigation down the street. Listed below are some questions it’s possible you’ll need to ask incarcerated folks:

• How do you put together for excessive warmth? Are there particular objects you attempt to replenish on at your jail’s commissary and the way a lot do these objects price?
• What measures do you’re taking to outlive the warmth? Have you ever taken different actions to chill down during times of maximum warmth?
• Have you ever ever stopped taking drugs as a result of it exacerbated the warmth?
• Does excessive warmth stop you from taking part in routine actions, akin to visiting hours, courses and out of doors recreation?
• Have you ever ever seen a temperature studying inside the jail? When and the place was this, and what did it say?
• Do you may have entry to enough water, ice, cooling rags, followers or different hydration and cooling measures? How ceaselessly do you obtain this stuff?
• How would you describe the warmth for somebody residing on the skin who has by no means skilled it earlier than?

You may also reframe these inquiries to ask members of the family and pals of incarcerated folks to grasp what they fear about and what they hear from their liked one. Lastly, search for the “lifer angle” — somebody who’s serving a protracted or life sentence. They’ll clarify how the warmth has gotten worse over the previous few a long time.

Inquiries to ask amenities

Usually, step one is to evaluate an company’s preparedness for mitigating excessive warmth and establishing a baseline of how many individuals could possibly be affected by a warmth wave.

Listed below are a number of inquiries to ask the general public data officer of the sheriff’s workplace that runs your native jail and your state’s corrections company:

• Do you may have any official insurance policies, procedures or protocols that relate to warmth or warmth mitigation?
• Do you may have any warmth emergency plans?
• Are you able to present an inventory of which amenities have common or partial air con and which don’t?
• Do you may have any insurance policies associated to permissible temperature ranges in residing areas?
• Do you may have any insurance policies associated to most indoor temperatures?
• Are there any compliance information associated to facility temperatures? Do these information embody temperature measurements? In that case, how and when are temperatures recorded? (Usually, amenities don’t log temperatures, however they could possibly be required to in the event that they’ve undergone scrutiny. In Texas, there have been considerations about temperature logs being falsified.)
• Are there emergency name buttons in cells for somebody to make use of if they’re experiencing the signs of warmth stroke?
• What are the protocols for responding to an emergency name?
• What share of your incarcerated inhabitants lives in air conditioned housing areas? (The phrasing right here is necessary as a result of officers could attempt to let you know that somebody has entry to air con, however some folks solely have entry at restricted instances, akin to in a classroom for a weekly class. It’s widespread for giant residing areas to lack air con, whereas smaller areas, like school rooms, docs’ workplaces and administrative workplaces could also be climate-controlled.)

Inquiries to ask advocates and legal professionals

Create an inventory of the native advocacy teams in your neighborhood or area by researching and asking round. Listed below are examples of some teams which have performed work or spoken out on this problem:

Authorized and advocacy teams are nice assets for getting a primary have a look at upcoming lawsuits or connecting with folks behind bars and their households. For instance, The Marshall Venture coated a class-action lawsuit in Missouri introduced by a authorized advocacy group. Listed below are some questions it’s possible you’ll need to ask the organizations in your space:

• Have they got earlier or upcoming lawsuits associated to warmth in prisons?
• Are they conscious of harmful warmth affecting any particular amenities in latest reminiscence?
• Can they share authorized documentation with you, akin to: official authorized complaints; case supplies like sworn statements from folks explaining their expertise within the warmth; knowledgeable testimony, stories and analysis; and different objects akin to graphs and maps? Relying on how a lot you get, the authorized paperwork alone could possibly be sufficient materials for an preliminary story. Remember that legal professionals could have already performed a whole lot of background analysis, which might prevent time, although you’ll nonetheless need to truth test their findings.
• Can they introduce you to households who’re suing over wrongful deaths? When you join with a household or their legal professionals, you’ll be able to ask them about autopsies, grievances that have been filed earlier than the loss of life of their liked one and every other documentation they could have or might purchase.
• Do they know of anybody else behind bars who will not be named in a lawsuit however who can be concerned with talking with an area reporter on this problem?
• Do they know of any incarcerated employees whose job it’s to log temperatures?
• Do they know every other members of the family or pals on the skin who might show you how to join with their liked one inside?

Assets

Lawsuits

Here’s a record of some high-profile lawsuits associated to excessive warmth behind bars. Texas has been floor zero for such authorized battles. In 2011, not less than 10 folks in Texas prisons died from warmth stroke, and an evaluation by The Texas Tribune discovered that dozens of individuals in Texas prisons died throughout a warmth wave in 2023 from heart-related or undetermined causes.

There have additionally been circumstances in different sizzling states like Louisiana, Florida, Arizona, New Mexico, Georgia and Missouri, amongst others. When overlaying this problem, citing related lawsuits in different states can present audiences with necessary context, which is what The Marshall Venture did on this version of our Closing Argument e-newsletter.

Whereas not exhaustive, this record paints a broad image of what has transpired legally.

Texas

• Tiede v. Collier: In March 2025, a federal decide dominated on a short lived injunction request that it’s “plainly unconstitutional” for state prisons to be extraordinarily sizzling, however the decide didn’t require that air con be put in. Bernie Tiede filed the preliminary lawsuit in 2023. A handful of nonprofit organizations joined in 2024 and filed a grievance towards Bryan Collier, the chief director of the Texas Division of Legal Justice. The submitting expanded “the plaintiffs to incorporate each inmate incarcerated in uncooled Texas prisons,” in accordance with The Texas Tribune. Learn the case description and associated paperwork right here, offered by the Sabin Middle for Local weather Change Legislation at Columbia.

• Cole v. Collier: In 2018, the Texas Division of Legal Justice agreed to settle this lawsuit by putting in air con in a single facility, the Wallace Pack Unit, which is described as a geriatric jail. Regardless of this landmark victory, air con was not put in in different Texas prisons. This was a class-action lawsuit filed in 2014 by a number of folks incarcerated on the facility. See associated paperwork right here, offered by the Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse on the College of Michigan Legislation Faculty.

Louisiana

• Voice of the Skilled v. LeBlanc: In Could 2025, a federal decide in Louisiana dominated that officers must take particular precautions when incarcerated persons are doing out of doors work and the warmth index rises above 88 levels. The class-action go well with was filed in 2023 by a gaggle of incarcerated folks at Louisiana State Penitentiary, often called Angola, and the grassroots group Voice of the Skilled, in collaboration with Rights Behind Bars and Promise of Justice. The defendants embody the jail’s warden at the moment, Louisiana’s state division of corrections, and Jail Enterprises. This lawsuit highlighted the hazard of warmth in prisons inside the bigger context of pressured handbook labor. The Sabin Middle for Local weather Change Legislation at Columbia supplies case paperwork and descriptions right here.

• Alex A. v. Edwards: In 2022, the American Civil Liberties Union and attorneys for the households of younger folks being transferred to Louisiana State Penitentiary, often called Angola, sued the governor at the moment and different officers to cease these transfers. Many abusive circumstances have been cited within the lawsuit, together with harmful warmth with out entry to air con. In 2023, a decide ordered that the kids be moved to a different facility. Learn the associated paperwork right here, offered by the ACLU.

• Ball v. LeBlanc: In Could 2019, a settlement was reached on a six-year civil rights lawsuit introduced by three folks on loss of life row in Louisiana. The settlement got here after a number of years of authorized twists and turns, detailed on this abstract. The settlement settlement in the end required that the plaintiffs obtain particular treatments, together with “IcyBreeze” models (a model title for modified ice chests), the diversion of cool air from one other space, every day showers of not less than quarter-hour, and particular person containers with ice and followers. It is a slender treatment that doesn’t profit different incarcerated folks in the identical facility. The Related Press uncovered that the litigation price taxpayers greater than $1 million. Learn associated paperwork right here, offered by the Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse on the College of Michigan Legislation Faculty.

Different notable pending lawsuits embody:

Missouri

• In Could 2025, the MacArthur Justice Middle introduced a class-action lawsuit towards officers on the Missouri Division of Corrections on behalf of individuals incarcerated at Algoa Correctional Middle. The lawsuit highlights the distinctive risks of warmth for folks in solitary confinement who can’t depart their cells and don’t have emergency name buttons, in addition to the have an effect on on medically susceptible populations. Learn the grievance right here.

Florida

• In October 2024, the Florida Justice Institute filed a lawsuit on behalf of incarcerated folks at Dade Correctional Establishment towards the Florida Division of Corrections. The advocacy group is asking that the intense warmth be dominated as unconstitutional underneath the Eighth Modification and that the jail company take mitigation measures, together with putting in air con. See associated paperwork right here, offered by the Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse on the College of Michigan Legislation Faculty.

Together with litigation about warmth inside prisons, there have additionally been lawsuits concerning unsafe temperatures in jail transport automobiles in Arizona and New Mexico, in addition to a lawsuit in Georgia concerning publicity to blistering out of doors temperatures.

The fundamentals of maximum warmth

You may search for historic climate information for the town, area or to your native jail or jail with instruments from the Nationwide Climate Service, Nationwide Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Climate Underground.

Remember that out of doors temperatures may be decrease than indoor temperatures because of the age and design of the jail and jail buildings, which can lure warmth. This MIT research has useful temperature information and graphics on this subject and this Intercept map reveals local weather dangers, together with warmth, for 1000’s of amenities.

Listed below are widespread definitions of weather-related phrases:

Excessive warmth: The Federal Emergency Administration Company defines excessive warmth as a protracted interval (not less than two to a few days) of excessive warmth and humidity with temperatures above 90 levels Fahrenheit.

Warmth advisory: The Nationwide Climate Service points a warmth advisory when it anticipates that the warmth index will attain 105 levels Fahrenheit or the temperature will attain 100 levels Fahrenheit inside the subsequent 24 hours.

Warmth index: The Nationwide Climate Service describes the warmth index as “what the temperature feels wish to the human physique when relative humidity is mixed with the air temperature.” The climate service warns {that a} warmth index of 125 levels Fahrenheit or larger is extraordinarily harmful, and warmth stroke is extremely probably. Here’s a warmth index calculator, a warmth index chart exhibiting when circumstances turn into harmful and a useful explainer. (It’s value noting that researchers at UC Berkeley discovered that the warmth index itself underestimates perceived temperatures on the most popular days.)

Moist bulb globe temperature: “A measure of the warmth stress in direct daylight, which takes into consideration: temperature, humidity, wind pace, solar angle and cloud cowl (photo voltaic radiation),” in accordance with the Nationwide Climate Service. Right here’s a useful explainer and native information section on this subject.

Warmth stroke: “A extreme heat-related sickness that includes a major elevation in physique temperatures, often on account of extended publicity to excessive temperatures or bodily exertion in excessive temperatures,” in accordance with Dr. Bilal Bangash, who outlines threat elements on this American Medical Affiliation explainer. The very best threat of creating heatstroke happens when the out of doors warmth index is greater than 90 levels Fahrenheit.

Professional sources

Amite Dominick, Texas Prisons Neighborhood Advocates, founder and president. Dominick has labored with lawmakers to file payments in Texas requesting humane temperatures in jail cells. She has offered knowledgeable testimony, organized consciousness occasions and co-authored stories, together with Excessive Temperatures and COVID19 in Texas Prisons. E mail: amite.dominick@tpcadvocates.org

David Fathi, American Civil Liberties Union, director of the ACLU Nationwide Jail Venture. The mission challenges the circumstances of confinement in prisons, jails and different detention amenities and has efficiently challenged excessive warmth in various prisons and jails all through the U.S. From 2012 to 2015, Fathi represented the ACLU in negotiations resulting in adoption of the United Nations revised customary minimal guidelines for the remedy of prisoners, often called the “Nelson Mandela Guidelines.” E mail: media@aclu.org

Corene Kendrick, American Civil Liberties Union, deputy director of the ACLU Nationwide Jail Venture. She labored with a medical knowledgeable to problem the circumstances of confinement of youngsters within the former loss of life row constructing at Louisiana State Jail at Angola, the place the younger folks have been incarcerated throughout the summer time in a constructing with damaged air con. She additionally advocated for incarcerated pregnant folks and for folks taking psychotropic drugs in Arizona prisons to be assured entry to cooler housing models. She has spoken extensively with a number of media retailers about inhumane circumstances in U.S. carceral amenities. E mail: media@aclu.org

Wilfredo Laracuente, Alternatives for a Higher Tomorrow, workforce growth specialist. Laracuente teaches workforce readiness abilities to younger adults. He shares reporting and insights on the prison justice system by his e-newsletter From Inside to Impression. Beforehand incarcerated for 20 years within the maximum-security Sing Sing Correctional Facility in New York, Laracuente can share his lived experiences concerning numerous circumstances behind bars, together with harmful warmth. E mail: Laracuente2125@gmail.com

Scott Medlock, ACLU of Colorado, workers lawyer. Medlock’s class-action lawsuits have resulted within the set up of air con in two Texas prisons, together with a geriatric facility, and “a few of the largest injury awards ever paid by the state of Texas to the households of prisoners who died of heatstroke.” In his earlier position for the Texas Civil Rights Venture, Medlock created the group’s prisoners’ rights program. E mail: smedlock@aclu-co.org

Dr. Judy Melinek, board licensed forensic pathologist. Melinek has 25 years of expertise in trigger and method of loss of life willpower. She has served as an knowledgeable witness in civil and prison proceedings involving in-custody deaths. As a medical police coach, Melinek may converse on the hazards of medical neglect, environmental circumstances, bodily abuse and restraint. She wrote this forensic primer for journalists and might help interpret loss of life documentation. Contact type: https://www.pathologyexpert.com/contact-us/

Ufuoma Ovienmhada, College of Arizona, Baker endowed postdoctoral analysis affiliate in local weather change and human resilience. Ovienmhada researches the environmental hazards skilled by incarcerated folks and co-authored this research analyzing the dangers of summer time warmth in U.S. prisons. She leads the Poisonous Prisons Mapping Venture, which is a digital device to help environmental justice advocacy for prisons. E mail: ufuoma@arizona.edu

J. Carlee Purdum, College of Houston, assistant professor of sociology with a college appointment at UH Inhabitants Well being. Purdum’s analysis pursuits embody “how prisons and incarcerated individuals are impacted by hazards and disasters,” together with excessive warmth in addition to jail emergency administration coverage and follow. She is a co-author of this report, which presents evaluation of surveys of greater than 300 incarcerated folks in Texas about carceral warmth mitigation insurance policies. E mail: jcpurdum@uh.edu

Marci Marie Ray, Lioness Justice Impacted Girls’s Alliance, director of neighborhood engagement. Ray shares her expertise of being incarcerated in a Texas jail for a decade to make clear the realities of incarceration by numerous platforms, together with her TikTok account, which has practically 300,000 followers, in addition to On the Rec Yard: Girls’s Jail Podcast. E mail: marcimarie@lionessjiwa.org

Jennifer Toon, Lioness Justice Impacted Girls’s Alliance, government director. Toon leads a nonprofit group based and led by women, girls and gender-expansive people who find themselves at the moment or previously incarcerated. Toon labored with Ray and a number of other different researchers to co-author this research on how disasters have an effect on the bodily and psychological well being of incarcerated girls. Toon additionally co-hosts On the Rec Yard: Girls’s Jail Podcast. E mail: jennifer@lionessjiwa.org

Jeremy Tripp, One Voice United, director of coverage. Tripp is a coverage advocate for a corporation that serves as a “conduit for correctional officers and workers to lift problems with concern and voice their opinions.” Drawing on the experiences of corrections professionals and ongoing analysis into the shortage of HVAC programs and broader environmental elements in U.S. prisons, Tripp focuses on how insufficient local weather management and excessive temperature swings undermine the well being, security and job efficiency of those that stay and work behind the partitions. Beforehand, he was the director of presidency and political affairs for the Michigan Corrections Group. E mail: Jeremy@onevoiceunited.org

Eldon Vail, former corrections administrator. Vail is a correctional guide and has been retained to do knowledgeable work in 22 states. He was a corrections administrator for practically 35 years, serving as secretary of the Washington State Division of Corrections for 4 years and deputy secretary for seven years. E mail: Nodleliav@comcast.web

Associated research

There are lots of related research on warmth in carceral settings, and local weather change extra broadly, which are cited in information protection. Here’s a non-exhaustive record of associated research to reference in your reporting. You may also attain out to the co-authors of those research as potential knowledgeable sources.

Type and requirements

Try our “Assets to Energy Your Legal Justice Reporting” for steerage on stylistic ideas akin to people-first language, knowledgeable consent and extra.