A Minnesota prison has “resolved without incident” a situation involving about 100 inmates in one housing unit who would not return to their cells Sunday in what one former inmate there called an act of “self-preservation” amid dangerously high temperatures in the region.
The situation was “calm, peaceful and stable throughout the day,” a Department of Corrections spokesperson said in a statement, adding that “incarcerated individuals in the unit indicated dissatisfaction” because the understaffed facility had to limit inmates’ time out of their cells.
But advocates positioned outside of the Stillwater prison, some of whom have family members inside, said inmates are fed up with the excessive heat, lack of air conditioning and limited access to showers and ice during on and off lockdowns over the past two months.
Still, context matters, if it’s basic where people are demanding it, it’s a basic right for them, and anything else doesn’t really add to the convesation.
Yeah there’s tons of places where it’s not a thing, poorer countries, richer colder countries (where it’s gonna be hotter and their households are nowhere near prepared for heat management besides retention, which is what you don’t want for the future), but this is a comment thread about American prisoners deserving what is considered basic in America-
A human rights violation is not the same as a basic rights violation. A genocide is not the same thing as an execution. Are they not human indicates this is a human right, and the discussion was then on human rights.
Despite all of that, as I explicitly stated in my comment, America can and should do better.
A prisoner does not deserve death by heat stroke, regardless of their crime. Providing sufficient ice to keep the prisoners alive is mandatory for them. Providing AC seems like a better long term solution. American justice considers it a crime for prisoners to die in custody on a date other than their execution day. They have a legal right to life.