美国联邦法官罗伯特·皮特曼周二发布了一份150页的判决书，下令德克萨斯州在2029年12月31日前为所有监狱安装空调，以解决长期存在的高温问题1。法官认定，在缺乏空调的监狱中关押被监禁者的条件违反了美国宪法第八修正案关于禁止残忍和不寻常惩罚的规定1。
根据德州刑事司法部门的数据，该州104个监狱设施中仅有36%在2024年9月1日前完全配备了空调1。截至该日期，德州监狱系统共有53,676张冷床可用，意味着近90,000名被监禁者处于炎热的生活条件中1。法官查证发现，2023年至2025年间至少有9人死于德州监狱的极端高温1。皮特曼法官在判决中指出，尽管有明确的风险证据——包括每个夏天持续的伤害、死亡和痛苦——但德州刑事司法部门主任博比·伦普金未能制定有意义、承诺的计划在可行的时间表内安装空调，这是"故意的漠视"1。
德克萨斯州刑事司法部门表示，完成空调安装的成本可能达到15亿美元1。然而，该部门在向州议会提交的立法拨款请求中仅包含2.89亿美元用于监狱空调安装，远低于其告知法庭能够从州议会获得的7.74亿美元1。法官命令德州刑事司法部门每六个月提交一次进展状态报告，首份报告需在2027年3月22日前提交1。德州刑事司法部门宣布将对该判决提出上诉1。
Federal Judge Robert Pitman issued an order on Tuesday requiring the state of Texas to equip all of its prisons with air conditioning by December 31, 2029, addressing dangerous heat conditions in the state's correctional facilities 1. In a 150-page ruling, Pitman determined that confinement without air conditioning violates the Eighth Amendment prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment 1.
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice has estimated the installation cost at approximately $1.5 billion, with only 36 percent of the state's 104 prison facilities completely equipped with air conditioning as of September 1, 2024 1. At that same date, the system had 53,676 cooling beds available, leaving nearly 90,000 incarcerated individuals housed in hot conditions 1. The judge found that at least nine people died from extreme heat in Texas prisons between 2023 and 2025 1.
In his ruling, Judge Pitman stated that "in the face of clear risk of harm—including ongoing injury, death, and suffering each summer—the Director's [Bobby Lumpkin's] failure to develop a meaningful, committed plan to install air conditioning within the timeframe the TDCJ has repeatedly represented as possible is deliberate indifference" 1. The department must submit progress reports to the court every six months, with the first report due by March 22, 2027 1. Texas officials have announced their intention to appeal the decision 1.
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