By Sunday Ameh
A federal judge in the United States has ordered the state of Texas to install air conditioning in all its prisons by the end of 2029, ruling that extreme heat in facilities without adequate cooling violates inmates’ constitutional rights.
US District Judge Robert Pitman issued the 150-page order on Tuesday, directing the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) to immediately begin developing a plan for the installations.
Pitman ruled that exposing inmates to extreme heat without air conditioning amounts to “cruel and unusual punishments,” which are prohibited under the US Constitution.
The judge cited testimony from former inmates who described falling ill and passing out in the heat, with some resorting to splashing toilet water on themselves to cool down.
“These are not humane conditions,” Pitman wrote.
Summer temperatures in parts of Texas routinely rise above 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius), while the state prison system houses about 143,000 inmates.
The TDCJ has estimated that installing air conditioning throughout the prison system would cost approximately $1.5 billion.
However, the agency said it would appeal the ruling, arguing that it already has heat-mitigation measures in place and has been expanding air-conditioned capacity.
According to the agency, the number of air-conditioned beds has increased from about 35,000 in 2018 to an expected 60,000 by the end of 2026. It projects the number will rise to 90,000 by 2028.
The lawsuit was initially filed in 2023 by Bernie Tiede, a former mortician serving a life sentence whose murder case inspired the movie Bernie. Prisoners’ rights groups later joined the legal action.
In 2025, Pitman ruled that the extreme heat in Texas prisons was “plainly unconstitutional” but stopped short of immediately ordering the state to install air conditioning. The case subsequently proceeded to trial earlier this year.
The latest ruling cited prison agency records acknowledging 23 heat-related deaths between 1998 and 2012 and three additional deaths in 2023. The judge also said plaintiffs presented credible evidence of other deaths between 2023 and 2025 that were at least partly linked to extreme heat.
Amite Dominick, founder and president of Texas Prisons Community Advocates and a plaintiff in the case, welcomed the ruling.
“We will be watching every deadline in this order,” Dominick said.
The state’s appeal means the legal dispute over the scope and implementation of the order is expected to continue.
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