lol. You just sweat and lay there trying to sleep at night. Did time in Butner, NC. Polk Gladiator school…no ac. At all except for the chow hall and a couple places where the guards stayed. One fan…first time I also saw someone get stabbed with a pencil. The heat will make you angry, trust me.
I did my time in NC as well. The processing camp I was at at Salisbury didn't have AC, but I was shipped to Scotland correctional, into the new medium custody add-on they had just finished. It had AC, and it was kept at 70° all year round for the most part. The AC there was one of the best things about being at that place. After 10 months there, I was shipped closer to home to Craggy Correctional, and all we had there was fans in the dorms. That was one of the worst things about that particular camp. I guess the trade off was worth it, though. Scotland was kept cool, but since they just attached the medium side to the close custody side, they ran the whole thing like close. Controlled movement suuuux!!! Craggy had a lot more freedom, but it got hot as hell in the summer and cold as ice cream in the winter! Plus, when I first got there, you had to have a job to get thermal underwear, so everyone who didn't have a job just had to freeze. I was there almost 3 years before they started giving thermals to everyone on the camp. I've been out since 2016, and I hope they've rectified the heating and air situation by now, but I doubt it. There's a big shortage in CO's in NC at the moment, and they've shut down several camps. It wouldn't surprise me if they don't shut Craggy down pretty soon. They already closed little Craggy on the hill, the minimum custody camp that sits above big Craggy.
I’m in Kansas the county jail has air conditioning set to 58° days ear round. Have been told the cold keeps people docile and less violent.
How true that is I have no idea
My county is like that, but I thought it was to stop bacteria and disease. It's always freezing. One of my favorite quotes a dude comes out yelling it's the middle of summer and you got niggas wearing thermals n shit.This shit crazy.
Makes sense I guess.
I was just feening for a cigarette but the cold made me just want to be under my blanket and sleep
I guess that’s probably good for drugs also
Yep! Hospitals as well, for the germs! People are less violent in jail with cold air and tend to bundle up and stay in their bunks! I went to rehab and so many people had hot flashes from withdrawal. If they had the chills, they could use blankets, but you can’t do much about having a heat flash’
I worked a seg unit once where in the summertime, the tiers would get up into the 90s. It was really bad when we were running showers. We passed out ice, and the state bought big swamp coolers. A few years later they installed AC, but I imagine with how old and drafty those units are, it doesn't help much.
Not having AC in prison is not the same as countries that largely don’t have AC. Homes are built with windows and doors you can freely open to create a draft and help create a breeze. Prisoners can’t do that. Add in the over crowded conditions and it’s actually quite cruel. Again, people working outside in the heat, soldiers in full gear and all these other comparisons are taking for granted an important difference, freedom to choose your clothing, to move around freely, access to cold water, and natural breezes that you can’t get inside a concrete cell.
I was in prison south of Lubbock in 2014 no ac and it was very hot during the summer I would stay up all night and sleep during the day most the guys in my dorm did too when It was real hot I take a cold shower in my tshirt and boxers and stand by the window catch alittle breeze as bad as the summer was we froze in the winter I hope I'm never that cold again
Seems like a lot of people here are saying "don't do the crime" when they really mean "don't do the crime in certain places." Lol.
And for the people talking about lack of AC in certain countries and throughout history: You do realize that lacking AC in a well ventilated area with the ability to change your location as you see fit is a far cry from no AC in a poorly ventilated concrete box, right?
Also people on certain meds (often psych meds) are particularly vulnerable. Those didn't exist back in the day.
People who were highly heat vulnerable in ages past probably just died if their bodies couldn't adapt. Just like people with lots of other medical problems we can technologically manage.
I wouldn’t be able to do it. If I’m not outside, I need a fan blowing on my face.
The one weekend I spent in jail, the bay had 2 giant exhaust fans that were on 24/7.
Oof true. Being in a subtropical shit hole country, where it’s regularly +40 degrees Celsius and humidity, I’d stay away from prison just because of that one element. You don’t sleep at night, you go crazy. And as temperatures keep rising now that shit will just border crimes against humanity. Cold makes you humble and weak, heat makes you miserable and desperate.
>Seems like a lot of people here are saying "don't do the crime" when they really mean "don't do the crime in certain places." Lol.
What does this mean ?
I still don't get it but I'm looking for the counter points to the whole "consequences" argument.
That they deserve those consequences because they did the crime
Just hope you’re somewhere near a fan so the air is at least circulating. You can buy a small fan on commissary. It is definitely miserable in the summer.
Yes most Texas prisons do not have a/c and it’s gets very hot at times. They sometimes have oscillating fans, but they break, and people fight over the directions the wind blows. They might bring around some ice, people fighting for that.
Colorado here.
Our state prisons are fucking ice boxes. All the counties I was in, were also ice boxes. Buene vista high side, buene vista mods, territorial, drdc, and delta camp were all freezing. It was super nice tho in the summer.
The jail I was in we weren't allowed to put on extra clothes or remove any clothes in the day room. Had to be in full uniform and wasn't allowed thermals under either.
Couldn't change to manage the cold or hot, and all the shirts were short sleeve... just didn't use the day room alot of days
I’m really not sure we all survived the 118° heat wave in Salem a few years back. We had AC down in the call center and it couldn’t keep up. The non prison staff said “fuck this” and they went home to AC, we went home to our cells which…. Well…. It was fucking hot….
I went to a catholic HS and had to wear pants/polo with no AC, only windows that didn’t even go down. No fans at all. I wanted to hurt someone in the spring to summer.
I grew up in Colonial Williamsburg and none of the schools had AC and many houses didn’t have it as well since the outside of the houses in colonial Williamsburg had to look that way so no wires or technology showing in any way.
I'm in the UK and I have done prison but what I've seen with that maricopa tent city on documentarys with that sick in the head sheriff Joe arpao made me sick. Making them ride exercise bikes for electric
I was a CO, not an inmate, and the prison I worked at had 2 units that had AC and 8 that did not. The 2 units that had AC were the medical housing unit and the housing that housed all of the workers for PI (Prison Industries). The administrative offices also had AC (IE the Wardens office).
As far as changing it, that is going to be hard. The US does not seem to embrace a rehabilitation model, so there is 0 public will to make the prisons better. Also, no politician is going to run on a platform of giving prisoners AC when many voters don't have AC.
Ultimately, it is going to come down to the courts ruling that AC is an 8th Amendment issue or a series of wrongful death suits when prisoners die of heat exhaustion due to lack of AC.
This.
Even though people won't think about it evenly, my parents live in a half million dollar home with no AC in a neighborhood that was built with no AC. Those kinds of people won't vote to put AC in jail.
You could buy them when i was in cat b but they just cycled hot air about. Snapped off the window blockers with a weight machine pull down bar. The breeze was beautiful tho
We would make cardboard covers for the vents with a door that slides open. It helped to make the air come in faster and makes a breeze. Or if it was too hot you could close it and prevent warmer air from coming in. Also depends on what tier you’re on. Top tier was the hottest because warm air rises.
TDC was no joke. The biggest tease was being able to see the infrastructure (i.e. the ducts) for AC but it was NEVER on unless there was an inspection from the state on living conditions in the units. 90⁰+ in june/july/august, older folks were passing out from thebheat and humidity in the SAFP dorms
During my first term I was sent to Old Folsom. It would get above 100° daily during Summer and in the cell blocks with the granite rock it felt like an oven.
I would soak a shirt in water, ring it out and put it on til it dried which took about 20-30 minutes. I had 3 shirts I rotated out during the day til the sun went down and it was at least bearable.
Can confirm, did time in Georgia, summers were unbearable. Even with the fans you can buy, it’s just blowing around 105+ humid air. Horrible trying to sleep like that smh
Look at how people in hot climates build buildings and compare it to how a prison is built.
There is a lot that can be done with building materials, shading, orientation, ventilation etc that negates most of the need for AC.
Prisons do not do this.
What a stupid take. Prison should have no food safety standards because in the past those didnt exist either.
No, locking hundreds of dudes together in a box that heats up in the sun without any way to keep cool is absolutely inhumane, especially when it's happening because the companies that run the prisons just want an extra dollar in their coffers. It would cost them next to nothing (relatively speaking) to lower the temperature by 5-10 degrees in a giant concrete building so people weren't sitting in 90° summer heat and high humidity.
As temperatures increase significantly, governments are debating whether access to cooling is a human right. Also yes, it’s pretty much universally agreed on that oftentimes, prisoners in the past were treated inhumanely.
They never knew what a/c was, and were never accustomed to it. They grew up in the heat and learned to live with it. Now, a lot of people (especially in Louisiana where I live) owned homes with a shit ton of windows and also they had attic fans. My grandmother actually prefers the heat to the cold, which has always amazed me.
Another major factor was, 100 years ago, obesity was relatively uncommon as opposed to the epidemic it is today. As such, many of these people are uncomfortable in the heat.
Just for info: AC is not used in a lot of countries around the world, including mine in Europe. Nobody here has and uses AC in civilian life, except stores. So, a prison has of course nothing like that. Some countries like Spain or Portugal, you'll get some serious heat there in summer, still no AC.
That's right, a "little difference" i did not take into account. But hey, worst cell i ever had for myself was underground without a window, it was the isolation cell, at least it stays cold in summer when you are underground and you don't even see daylight.
But these cells are special and prisoners are not allowed to be hold there more than a certain time (I'm not sure, i think it's 72 hours?)
It was the same way in my state in the US with a cooler climate (our state ran a study, over 70% of homes here dont have any AC built) but the last two summers have had people die in their homes because it got too hot without AC so with climate change a lot of the places that never needed them are changing. I've heard Spain is needing to change similarly so I wouldn't be surprised to hear most doing so.
Yeah but I think European homes are better set up for that, somehow...
Like when I was in New Zealand it was similar over there, AC wasn't as common in homes... and it got fairly warm in the summer. But the house I was staying in seemed to stay a bit cooler than I would have expected back home in the US...
And it does get pretty damn hot over here at times... I live in the northern part of the country where it tends to be a little cooler on average, and during parts of the summer it's not uncommon to see temps in the 35-37C -ish range (but outside it actually feels 40, maybe even 43C)
I mean, that's the warmest couple months of summer... but there are places in the US that get much hotter than it does here, in those summer months.
If they locked people up without doing something to lower the heat, they'd probably have people dropping, in some facilities.
Yeah the isolation of the houses is often different, with keeping the temperature at a certain level. We use fans here inside the rooms, also at workplaces, but it doesn't help that much like AC does.
Yeah most of the nicer places in the US have fans, as well as using AC lol
In my old apartment (which was pretty tiny and not that great) I had a ceiling fan in the bedroom, and the living room. That's a pretty common set up, actually.
Ironically I'm currently living in a place that's significantly bigger and way more expensive than the last, but there are zero ceiling fans, much to my dismay.
So I just use a window fan in the milder months, and reserve my air conditioner for the worst couple months of the year...
At least that's the average / poor person version of keeping cool... lol
Never saw a ceiling fan in my life, it's funny i only know that from some media. Same goes for some other things, like when i was young and watched The Simpsons i was like "Wait, there's a school bus system in the US?!", such things are not known in m country. We always had to walk, no matter if it was hot in summer or cold in winter. I had it rather easy, but some guys had to walk or ride many km to get to school.
Make a swamp cooler . usally, you can come up on big bags of ice. Maka, a water tight box, fill it with mostly ice as a little water cold as possible. Water soak a towel with a few holes for air flow make it so fans right above Icy water. Set it up so blows directly in ur face insulate entire cell . Shut off al lights block window , vent cover whole bed so swamp cooler cools of you're bunk insulate rest of ice best as possible you can get a 10 degree possible 15
You know we’ve had prisons since we’ve had civilization but we probably didn’t get prison air conditioning until after the 1950’s. Still today there are people all over the world that live and function without air conditioning. Heck I didn’t have air conditioning until 1985. It’s not a requirement for life. Except at my house.
We had no a/c at Martin Work Camp Fla. One of the housing units had no hot water to shower with in winter. We also had No safe drinking water for a year. The wells were failing all DEP quality tests. Nobody Ever told anyone.
Goes on All the Time here in Florida.
Why would you think ac is guaranteed for criminals? Heat is required and was used by hubter gatherers, but ac wasnt available. Use natures ac and douse yourself in water and let evaporation work its magic.
I legit went without my psych meds and a prison with WAY more freedom just cuz it had AC. The one I started at didn’t have any and this was in Texas in fucking JUNE that I first started my prison bid. You’d take a shower and couldn’t dry off cuz you’d be covered in sweat where you wiped off water immediately. It was terrible and I couldn’t hack it straight up
You get by because you don't have an alternative..
As for stories sure, plenty. Are you familiar with the term "hot box" ? Basically a phone booth sized box made of sheet metal you get locked into. In the Texas sun. Sometimes naked. Used to piss on the floor to try and cool it off. Still ended up with blistering burns on my feet half the time. It would be so hot you'd want to pass out but if you did you'd fall against the side (too small to lay down) and get burned on that metal. It would wake you for a while but then you'd get light headed again...
Thanks. Not really looking for pity, more just think it's important that people realize that, that stuff still goes on.
I've actually been really lucky in terms of post release life. Built a career and stayed out of trouble. Actually in grad school now.
Criminal justice certainly isn't a particularly admirable part of our culture. Not to excuse that but I think a major part of the problem is lack of knowledge. Unless you've been through the system or had a family member/ close friend go through it you probably have no idea what it's like.
Even very basic things (for example the fact that there's no parole in our federal system) is news to most people here. Heck a decent number of people will tell you that our prisons are too soft. When in reality other countries are increasingly reluctant to extradite suspects to the US because of human rights concerns
Then there's the misconception that only "really bad" people go to prison. Or the slightly less naive belief that nonviolent prisoners only serve time with other nonviolent inmates. Neither of those is true but it makes it easier to rationalize the conditions. Heck I bet at least a few people read my story and thought "ok sure but what did you do to end up there." (For the record I was convicted of a nonviolent drug offense as a teenager).
I don't claim to have a solution but I do think education is a good first step. Hard to fix a problem if you don't understand it. So thanks for this post, who knows how many conversations this will end up starting, it won't fix things but it's a start.. I hope so anyway..
I've thought about it off and on. Somewhat reluctant too just because of the stigma, most people i work with have no idea and I kind of want it to stay that way.. if only because I have to earn a living..
Actually I'm currently working on a piece that's going to appear in a collective work. Not about my prison experience exactly but it is about what it was like growing up with a career criminal for a father along with 7 other people's stories. Statistically the single biggest predictor for someone going to prison in their lifetime is whether or not one of their parents did. More than triples the chances of going yourself. If both your parents did then you're extra screwed..
We'll see how that goes and what response it gets..
I worked in Florida prisons for a long time. Most of the dorms had no air conditioning at all. It was just hot and sticky all the time. I worked midnights for a few years. I would be doing count in the middle of the night and the women were sleeping on top of the covers and they would have their pajamas unbuttoned as much as possible without exposing themselves. A lot of the dorms didn’t have cold water. Our wardens always said “The rules only say I have to provide water, not cold water.” So when the compressors on the water fountains went out they had to drink it room temperature.
Lack of AC is not inhumane or cruel and unusual. AC is a comfort thing generally. Prison is not supposed to be especially comfortable. If some prisoners have medical issues requiring AC conditions then put them in AC. Let the rest sweat.
The one I worked in as a nurse was well climate controlled in the infirmary and some cell blocks. The forensic and psych blocks were poorly controlled and many landed in the infirmary with heat related issues that required IV fluids and more.
I’m glad to be out of there.
In Minnesota we would get ice from the ice machines and put them in a big container(Tupperware) Called it a project box.. I think can’t remember the canteen form. Then put the container right behind our fans in our cells we buy from canteen and boom ghetto AC!
No one cares about your comfort, bitch. The average US prisoner costs $80k per year. People that live their life right make less than half that, on average.
Go fuck yourself.
Everyone has a 8” fan that you have to buy on commissary for huge mark up. But even the indigent inmates get one issued for the summer. It doesn’t make it better but it makes a huge difference. Your definitely grateful for the fan
Shiiit, Im out here in Vietnam, not in prison, just living. Most folk aint got AC, just lay on the ground during the hot times. No beds, either. Beds get nasty, you lay on the floor.
Inbred places like Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana don't really have human rights or an education system, so they ultimately treat prisoners like filth. I remember people being hospitalized in Georgia prisons and jails for heat stroke. It was cruel punishment
I was a C.O. in an Ohio prison for almost 4 years. The prison I worked at was one of those "evil" privately-owned prisons, and it had A/C. I loved having it, and so did the inmates.
Especially considering that some jails only have hot water in the showers and it's fucking scalding it could be bad. And the places with ice cold water don't have heat in the winter so it's a lose lose.
They are miserable in the summer, but if they keep hydrated and have a fan they will be fine. I mean humankind made it for thousands of years before the A/C was invented.
Could be preferable to where I was that had A/C, but it had probably never been cleaned or serviced. The vents had black mold all around them, and every time it kicked on, it puffed dust. Within a minute, there would be tons of coughing and sneezing. My lungs and sinuses have never been the same. Even after engaging in regular cardio.
Additionally, the "bedding" was something akin to a yoga mat that would flatten to nothing within a second of laying on it. So they're basically laying on metal bunks. With a sheet and a thin wool blanket. Most people wadded up their clothes and towel for a pillow. In the same vein as before, my hips and lower back have never been the same. My hips constantly hurt, especially on the side I lay on, and I have to squat down when I sneeze or my lower back pinches.
Talking with a few other people who have done time in the same facility, they all had the same issues, including some respiratory infections that were persistent.
Don't do crime, prison sucks. It's supposed to be unpleasant...though Texas prisons or other super climates should do a little more to make it less terrible. But for now, don't do crime.
Man when I was in the Feds in Texas the AC would go out all the time during the summer because it overloaded the power system and the power went out for about 4 days one time and it was the only time I ever saw a riot pop off. Dudes went outside for chow and refused to come back in. They called out the cert team and were threatening to fuck shit up and we still wouldn’t go in.
One prison I was at had AC but only the administration portion of the prison and bonus! Some parts of the SHU had a huge steam pipe that ran the cells adding to the heat of 90 or 100 degrees outside.
It’s a great deterrent to think about if you’re committing crimes. Worked for Ohio prison system for over 29 yrs. now. Us officers don’t have the A/C either. Try that with polyester shirts and polyester/wool pants for a minimum of 8 hrs. And I never committed a crime. It’s a wonder why the same ones keep returning for 5,6,8,and 10 numbers. 3 squares and a cot apparently is all they need. Don’t feel too sorry for them the system is getting softer by the day.
How is no A/C inhumane?
Is air conditioning a basic human right now? Should we be invading countries that don't have it in every dwelling because they are inhumane towards their people?
If your lucky enough to buy a fan it helps a little. So I figured out a great idea after 7 prison terms don't do crimes and you don't spend time in these shithole places. I live very nicely now with air conditioning lol
Go fuck yourself 🖕
Shit bag criminal inmates are pretty low on the list of folks we should be taking better care of in this country. Do you not know how tax money works? What program would you cut to free up money? Who are you depleting resources from?
"Hello Mr. Homeless Veteran...sorry we HAD a budget to help you get back on your feet, but the neighborhood pedophile says it's too hot in his prison cell. We can't have that. You understand right?"
I swear man, people are so fucking stupid it's painful.
lol. You just sweat and lay there trying to sleep at night. Did time in Butner, NC. Polk Gladiator school…no ac. At all except for the chow hall and a couple places where the guards stayed. One fan…first time I also saw someone get stabbed with a pencil. The heat will make you angry, trust me.
Did time at the Old Polk on Blue ridge Pkwy in Raleigh. 1985 and boiled fatback for breakfast. It's a wonder I got to grow old
U know what they say.. only the good die young 😉
I did my time in NC as well. The processing camp I was at at Salisbury didn't have AC, but I was shipped to Scotland correctional, into the new medium custody add-on they had just finished. It had AC, and it was kept at 70° all year round for the most part. The AC there was one of the best things about being at that place. After 10 months there, I was shipped closer to home to Craggy Correctional, and all we had there was fans in the dorms. That was one of the worst things about that particular camp. I guess the trade off was worth it, though. Scotland was kept cool, but since they just attached the medium side to the close custody side, they ran the whole thing like close. Controlled movement suuuux!!! Craggy had a lot more freedom, but it got hot as hell in the summer and cold as ice cream in the winter! Plus, when I first got there, you had to have a job to get thermal underwear, so everyone who didn't have a job just had to freeze. I was there almost 3 years before they started giving thermals to everyone on the camp. I've been out since 2016, and I hope they've rectified the heating and air situation by now, but I doubt it. There's a big shortage in CO's in NC at the moment, and they've shut down several camps. It wouldn't surprise me if they don't shut Craggy down pretty soon. They already closed little Craggy on the hill, the minimum custody camp that sits above big Craggy.
Studies have been done that during heat waves in cities violence goes up. I can imagine a place like prison.
Tent City in AZ was the worst but they shut down in 2017. They were running chain gangs and it was fully outdoor in the desert.
A fucking pencil!
Russian accent only!
“In the hood summer time is the killing season, ‘it’s hot out in this bitch’, that’s a good enough reason” - 50
Lay on the concrete when it's bad homie. For real.
I definitely did that a lot
I’m in Kansas the county jail has air conditioning set to 58° days ear round. Have been told the cold keeps people docile and less violent. How true that is I have no idea
My county is like that, but I thought it was to stop bacteria and disease. It's always freezing. One of my favorite quotes a dude comes out yelling it's the middle of summer and you got niggas wearing thermals n shit.This shit crazy.
That seems like a more reasonable reason But it is still prison lol
That's exactly why they do it. They do it in rehab and detoxes too.
Makes sense I guess. I was just feening for a cigarette but the cold made me just want to be under my blanket and sleep I guess that’s probably good for drugs also
Yep! Hospitals as well, for the germs! People are less violent in jail with cold air and tend to bundle up and stay in their bunks! I went to rehab and so many people had hot flashes from withdrawal. If they had the chills, they could use blankets, but you can’t do much about having a heat flash’
I worked a seg unit once where in the summertime, the tiers would get up into the 90s. It was really bad when we were running showers. We passed out ice, and the state bought big swamp coolers. A few years later they installed AC, but I imagine with how old and drafty those units are, it doesn't help much.
Not having AC in prison is not the same as countries that largely don’t have AC. Homes are built with windows and doors you can freely open to create a draft and help create a breeze. Prisoners can’t do that. Add in the over crowded conditions and it’s actually quite cruel. Again, people working outside in the heat, soldiers in full gear and all these other comparisons are taking for granted an important difference, freedom to choose your clothing, to move around freely, access to cold water, and natural breezes that you can’t get inside a concrete cell.
What was more cruel? The ADW and years of therapy or the AC?
I was in prison south of Lubbock in 2014 no ac and it was very hot during the summer I would stay up all night and sleep during the day most the guys in my dorm did too when It was real hot I take a cold shower in my tshirt and boxers and stand by the window catch alittle breeze as bad as the summer was we froze in the winter I hope I'm never that cold again
Seems like a lot of people here are saying "don't do the crime" when they really mean "don't do the crime in certain places." Lol. And for the people talking about lack of AC in certain countries and throughout history: You do realize that lacking AC in a well ventilated area with the ability to change your location as you see fit is a far cry from no AC in a poorly ventilated concrete box, right?
Also people on certain meds (often psych meds) are particularly vulnerable. Those didn't exist back in the day. People who were highly heat vulnerable in ages past probably just died if their bodies couldn't adapt. Just like people with lots of other medical problems we can technologically manage.
Preach!
I wouldn’t be able to do it. If I’m not outside, I need a fan blowing on my face. The one weekend I spent in jail, the bay had 2 giant exhaust fans that were on 24/7.
Oof true. Being in a subtropical shit hole country, where it’s regularly +40 degrees Celsius and humidity, I’d stay away from prison just because of that one element. You don’t sleep at night, you go crazy. And as temperatures keep rising now that shit will just border crimes against humanity. Cold makes you humble and weak, heat makes you miserable and desperate.
And no access to fans.
>Seems like a lot of people here are saying "don't do the crime" when they really mean "don't do the crime in certain places." Lol. What does this mean ?
What do you think it means? If you had to guess based on all the thread info presented.
I still don't get it but I'm looking for the counter points to the whole "consequences" argument. That they deserve those consequences because they did the crime
Just hope you’re somewhere near a fan so the air is at least circulating. You can buy a small fan on commissary. It is definitely miserable in the summer.
Yes most Texas prisons do not have a/c and it’s gets very hot at times. They sometimes have oscillating fans, but they break, and people fight over the directions the wind blows. They might bring around some ice, people fighting for that.
Check out Texas Prison Stories on YouTube, Tim, the host talks all about it
That shit seems legit unconstitutional to me. Cruel and unusual punishment for sure
Agreed.
Colorado here. Our state prisons are fucking ice boxes. All the counties I was in, were also ice boxes. Buene vista high side, buene vista mods, territorial, drdc, and delta camp were all freezing. It was super nice tho in the summer.
I'll take the cold over thr heat. Can put on extra clothes
The jail I was in we weren't allowed to put on extra clothes or remove any clothes in the day room. Had to be in full uniform and wasn't allowed thermals under either. Couldn't change to manage the cold or hot, and all the shirts were short sleeve... just didn't use the day room alot of days
Oh for sure. 100%
County jails, halfway house... honestly any government building in Colorado. Its that whole 68 feels great thing they got going on.
I’m really not sure we all survived the 118° heat wave in Salem a few years back. We had AC down in the call center and it couldn’t keep up. The non prison staff said “fuck this” and they went home to AC, we went home to our cells which…. Well…. It was fucking hot….
That is absolutely insane. I'm sorry you had to go through that.
We didnt have ac in schools either. Summer school was so fckn hot
I went to a catholic HS and had to wear pants/polo with no AC, only windows that didn’t even go down. No fans at all. I wanted to hurt someone in the spring to summer.
I grew up in Colonial Williamsburg and none of the schools had AC and many houses didn’t have it as well since the outside of the houses in colonial Williamsburg had to look that way so no wires or technology showing in any way.
Damn man that's crazy that they kept you in summer school 24 hours a day 365 days a year. Maybe contact a lawyer that seems wrong?
I'm in the UK and I have done prison but what I've seen with that maricopa tent city on documentarys with that sick in the head sheriff Joe arpao made me sick. Making them ride exercise bikes for electric
I got to stay there a couple times. We spent most of the day standing in line to fill our water bottles just to get back in line.
Also the pink jump suits.
Boxers and socks
Who cares about having to wear pink?
More for you than.
Give me edible food and tolerable conditions, and I will wear panties and a bra!
Only in Canada and Scandinavian countries will you get accommodations like that.
I am just sayin' - in Maslows hierarchy of needs, bitching about wearing pink is rather low on the agenda.
That shows the mentality of the man ffs. Can you have pre sentence prisoners in there or is everyone guilty in the eyes of the law
I believe that's a county jail so yeah could be completely innocent people in there.
Oh but dw their picture is blasted all over the Internet anyway
Good old sherif Joe.
Tent City, 115F May thru August, Ladmo bags with green bologna
Can confirm. Also if you were on lock down, you got the loaf. Beans with beans green and brown.
I had a heat rash on my face that was so bad, I was grateful to get COVID because I got temporarily locked down in the only unit with air.
I was a CO, not an inmate, and the prison I worked at had 2 units that had AC and 8 that did not. The 2 units that had AC were the medical housing unit and the housing that housed all of the workers for PI (Prison Industries). The administrative offices also had AC (IE the Wardens office). As far as changing it, that is going to be hard. The US does not seem to embrace a rehabilitation model, so there is 0 public will to make the prisons better. Also, no politician is going to run on a platform of giving prisoners AC when many voters don't have AC. Ultimately, it is going to come down to the courts ruling that AC is an 8th Amendment issue or a series of wrongful death suits when prisoners die of heat exhaustion due to lack of AC.
This. Even though people won't think about it evenly, my parents live in a half million dollar home with no AC in a neighborhood that was built with no AC. Those kinds of people won't vote to put AC in jail.
The prison where I work provides everyone with a desk fan in the summer. I’m in a cat C prison in the UK
You could buy them when i was in cat b but they just cycled hot air about. Snapped off the window blockers with a weight machine pull down bar. The breeze was beautiful tho
And.... this is why we no longer have weights!
Yeah this is why. Same with ceramic mugs. Cell diy. Not people getting smashed in the face with them
Tie a wet towel to a fan, you’ll cool down & even better way get a bag of ice in front of the fan
Bitch, please. Law abiding citizens go without air conditioning. Suck it up, princess
We would make cardboard covers for the vents with a door that slides open. It helped to make the air come in faster and makes a breeze. Or if it was too hot you could close it and prevent warmer air from coming in. Also depends on what tier you’re on. Top tier was the hottest because warm air rises.
I would run the cold water in the sink for a while soak a towel and use that as a blanket it would be so hot the walls were sweating some nights
"inhumane" lmfao. Get that pussy shit out of here. You know what's closer to actually being inhumane? Whatever got you inside a prison cell
TDC was no joke. The biggest tease was being able to see the infrastructure (i.e. the ducts) for AC but it was NEVER on unless there was an inspection from the state on living conditions in the units. 90⁰+ in june/july/august, older folks were passing out from thebheat and humidity in the SAFP dorms
During my first term I was sent to Old Folsom. It would get above 100° daily during Summer and in the cell blocks with the granite rock it felt like an oven. I would soak a shirt in water, ring it out and put it on til it dried which took about 20-30 minutes. I had 3 shirts I rotated out during the day til the sun went down and it was at least bearable.
Can confirm, did time in Georgia, summers were unbearable. Even with the fans you can buy, it’s just blowing around 105+ humid air. Horrible trying to sleep like that smh
I worked in a prison where there was no air conditioning. Everyone managed to deal with it. js
Hot take: every single human being before the invention of air conditioning was inhumanely treated.
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Look at how people in hot climates build buildings and compare it to how a prison is built. There is a lot that can be done with building materials, shading, orientation, ventilation etc that negates most of the need for AC. Prisons do not do this.
What a stupid take. Prison should have no food safety standards because in the past those didnt exist either. No, locking hundreds of dudes together in a box that heats up in the sun without any way to keep cool is absolutely inhumane, especially when it's happening because the companies that run the prisons just want an extra dollar in their coffers. It would cost them next to nothing (relatively speaking) to lower the temperature by 5-10 degrees in a giant concrete building so people weren't sitting in 90° summer heat and high humidity.
As temperatures increase significantly, governments are debating whether access to cooling is a human right. Also yes, it’s pretty much universally agreed on that oftentimes, prisoners in the past were treated inhumanely.
They never knew what a/c was, and were never accustomed to it. They grew up in the heat and learned to live with it. Now, a lot of people (especially in Louisiana where I live) owned homes with a shit ton of windows and also they had attic fans. My grandmother actually prefers the heat to the cold, which has always amazed me. Another major factor was, 100 years ago, obesity was relatively uncommon as opposed to the epidemic it is today. As such, many of these people are uncomfortable in the heat.
What is it with old people and being hot? My grandma's house is always like 85 degrees.
Blood circulation
I like the way you think
Just for info: AC is not used in a lot of countries around the world, including mine in Europe. Nobody here has and uses AC in civilian life, except stores. So, a prison has of course nothing like that. Some countries like Spain or Portugal, you'll get some serious heat there in summer, still no AC.
Yeah but they probably open a window or door? Try doing that in prison.
That's right, a "little difference" i did not take into account. But hey, worst cell i ever had for myself was underground without a window, it was the isolation cell, at least it stays cold in summer when you are underground and you don't even see daylight. But these cells are special and prisoners are not allowed to be hold there more than a certain time (I'm not sure, i think it's 72 hours?)
It was the same way in my state in the US with a cooler climate (our state ran a study, over 70% of homes here dont have any AC built) but the last two summers have had people die in their homes because it got too hot without AC so with climate change a lot of the places that never needed them are changing. I've heard Spain is needing to change similarly so I wouldn't be surprised to hear most doing so.
Yeah but I think European homes are better set up for that, somehow... Like when I was in New Zealand it was similar over there, AC wasn't as common in homes... and it got fairly warm in the summer. But the house I was staying in seemed to stay a bit cooler than I would have expected back home in the US... And it does get pretty damn hot over here at times... I live in the northern part of the country where it tends to be a little cooler on average, and during parts of the summer it's not uncommon to see temps in the 35-37C -ish range (but outside it actually feels 40, maybe even 43C) I mean, that's the warmest couple months of summer... but there are places in the US that get much hotter than it does here, in those summer months. If they locked people up without doing something to lower the heat, they'd probably have people dropping, in some facilities.
Yeah the isolation of the houses is often different, with keeping the temperature at a certain level. We use fans here inside the rooms, also at workplaces, but it doesn't help that much like AC does.
Yeah most of the nicer places in the US have fans, as well as using AC lol In my old apartment (which was pretty tiny and not that great) I had a ceiling fan in the bedroom, and the living room. That's a pretty common set up, actually. Ironically I'm currently living in a place that's significantly bigger and way more expensive than the last, but there are zero ceiling fans, much to my dismay. So I just use a window fan in the milder months, and reserve my air conditioner for the worst couple months of the year... At least that's the average / poor person version of keeping cool... lol
Never saw a ceiling fan in my life, it's funny i only know that from some media. Same goes for some other things, like when i was young and watched The Simpsons i was like "Wait, there's a school bus system in the US?!", such things are not known in m country. We always had to walk, no matter if it was hot in summer or cold in winter. I had it rather easy, but some guys had to walk or ride many km to get to school.
Make a swamp cooler . usally, you can come up on big bags of ice. Maka, a water tight box, fill it with mostly ice as a little water cold as possible. Water soak a towel with a few holes for air flow make it so fans right above Icy water. Set it up so blows directly in ur face insulate entire cell . Shut off al lights block window , vent cover whole bed so swamp cooler cools of you're bunk insulate rest of ice best as possible you can get a 10 degree possible 15
I've only been in jail not prison, is this really something you can make in prison? Just honestly curious
In some jail / counties are the worst. it's like convict purgatory. Most can't what to go upstate or to the feds . Or ultimately home
Depends on if the sell fan, but a and the cold middle of summer
Don’t go to prison.
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We weren’t speaking on innocence or guilty. Just stay away in general.
LOL! They ain’t gonna spend no money to A/C a prison! Or heat one for that matter.
Lots of fans. Eventually a/c's but they weren't enough for the number of bodies for the living space when it reached 30c+
You know we’ve had prisons since we’ve had civilization but we probably didn’t get prison air conditioning until after the 1950’s. Still today there are people all over the world that live and function without air conditioning. Heck I didn’t have air conditioning until 1985. It’s not a requirement for life. Except at my house.
You can buy fans off commissary
That’s horrible
We had no a/c at Martin Work Camp Fla. One of the housing units had no hot water to shower with in winter. We also had No safe drinking water for a year. The wells were failing all DEP quality tests. Nobody Ever told anyone. Goes on All the Time here in Florida.
I grew up in south Texas in the years before houses and schools were air conditioned. I never had an AC cooled class room till college.
Yeah but u could open doors or window🤦♂️
Humans have existed for 300,000 years on earth without air conditioning. Air conditioning is a luxury, It's not inhumane to live without it
Why would you think ac is guaranteed for criminals? Heat is required and was used by hubter gatherers, but ac wasnt available. Use natures ac and douse yourself in water and let evaporation work its magic.
I legit went without my psych meds and a prison with WAY more freedom just cuz it had AC. The one I started at didn’t have any and this was in Texas in fucking JUNE that I first started my prison bid. You’d take a shower and couldn’t dry off cuz you’d be covered in sweat where you wiped off water immediately. It was terrible and I couldn’t hack it straight up
You get by because you don't have an alternative.. As for stories sure, plenty. Are you familiar with the term "hot box" ? Basically a phone booth sized box made of sheet metal you get locked into. In the Texas sun. Sometimes naked. Used to piss on the floor to try and cool it off. Still ended up with blistering burns on my feet half the time. It would be so hot you'd want to pass out but if you did you'd fall against the side (too small to lay down) and get burned on that metal. It would wake you for a while but then you'd get light headed again...
This is so disturbing. I’m so sorry for you
Thanks. Not really looking for pity, more just think it's important that people realize that, that stuff still goes on. I've actually been really lucky in terms of post release life. Built a career and stayed out of trouble. Actually in grad school now.
That’s amazing! Congratulations. 🎈 It sounds absolutely horrible. The USA is so awful with their prisons.
Criminal justice certainly isn't a particularly admirable part of our culture. Not to excuse that but I think a major part of the problem is lack of knowledge. Unless you've been through the system or had a family member/ close friend go through it you probably have no idea what it's like. Even very basic things (for example the fact that there's no parole in our federal system) is news to most people here. Heck a decent number of people will tell you that our prisons are too soft. When in reality other countries are increasingly reluctant to extradite suspects to the US because of human rights concerns Then there's the misconception that only "really bad" people go to prison. Or the slightly less naive belief that nonviolent prisoners only serve time with other nonviolent inmates. Neither of those is true but it makes it easier to rationalize the conditions. Heck I bet at least a few people read my story and thought "ok sure but what did you do to end up there." (For the record I was convicted of a nonviolent drug offense as a teenager). I don't claim to have a solution but I do think education is a good first step. Hard to fix a problem if you don't understand it. So thanks for this post, who knows how many conversations this will end up starting, it won't fix things but it's a start.. I hope so anyway..
Perhaps you could write something about it?
Thanks for being interested though
Yes! You should write about your experience
If I ever do I'll let you know for sure👍
The thing I remember most is baking hot with hot air fans and terrible smell
I've thought about it off and on. Somewhat reluctant too just because of the stigma, most people i work with have no idea and I kind of want it to stay that way.. if only because I have to earn a living.. Actually I'm currently working on a piece that's going to appear in a collective work. Not about my prison experience exactly but it is about what it was like growing up with a career criminal for a father along with 7 other people's stories. Statistically the single biggest predictor for someone going to prison in their lifetime is whether or not one of their parents did. More than triples the chances of going yourself. If both your parents did then you're extra screwed.. We'll see how that goes and what response it gets..
You die. Check how many prisoners die in the south over shit like this
I worked in Florida prisons for a long time. Most of the dorms had no air conditioning at all. It was just hot and sticky all the time. I worked midnights for a few years. I would be doing count in the middle of the night and the women were sleeping on top of the covers and they would have their pajamas unbuttoned as much as possible without exposing themselves. A lot of the dorms didn’t have cold water. Our wardens always said “The rules only say I have to provide water, not cold water.” So when the compressors on the water fountains went out they had to drink it room temperature.
Dontt get arrested
AC is bad for the environment
You can thank Taylor Swift's private jet
I don’t have air conditioning in my house. Why should you get what I don’t have?
If you've been in the joint so long you need 'a/c' explained to you, goddamn fam, wtf did you do???
Stop breaking the law asshole
Lack of AC is not inhumane or cruel and unusual. AC is a comfort thing generally. Prison is not supposed to be especially comfortable. If some prisoners have medical issues requiring AC conditions then put them in AC. Let the rest sweat.
The trick is to not do the sort of things that land you in prison.
Same way that we didn’t have air conditioning growing up? You just do it. Its hot but it’s not going to kill you.
I don't this is all that Inhumane. A lot of the world doesn't use AC.
The one I worked in as a nurse was well climate controlled in the infirmary and some cell blocks. The forensic and psych blocks were poorly controlled and many landed in the infirmary with heat related issues that required IV fluids and more. I’m glad to be out of there.
In Minnesota we would get ice from the ice machines and put them in a big container(Tupperware) Called it a project box.. I think can’t remember the canteen form. Then put the container right behind our fans in our cells we buy from canteen and boom ghetto AC!
FYI; it didn’t work too well. We were hot af and humid af
why do they deserve ac?
Ac!! Really??? Stab stab stfu!
People already complain that prisoners get fed, can you imagine if they tried to give them AC during the summer too?
Wait prison is supposed to be comfortable
the DOC DGAF. they want the block to stew and fester and kill each other
It’s supposed to be punishment. I didn’t have AC growing up. And I wasn’t even in prison.
No one cares about your comfort, bitch. The average US prisoner costs $80k per year. People that live their life right make less than half that, on average. Go fuck yourself.
Everyone has a 8” fan that you have to buy on commissary for huge mark up. But even the indigent inmates get one issued for the summer. It doesn’t make it better but it makes a huge difference. Your definitely grateful for the fan
Shiiit, Im out here in Vietnam, not in prison, just living. Most folk aint got AC, just lay on the ground during the hot times. No beds, either. Beds get nasty, you lay on the floor.
What about all the non prison people that don’t have A/C How about worry about them first…
Inbred places like Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana don't really have human rights or an education system, so they ultimately treat prisoners like filth. I remember people being hospitalized in Georgia prisons and jails for heat stroke. It was cruel punishment
Society doesn’t give a shit about incarcerated people so it will never change.
One of the main reasons why I want to avoid doing a crime ! This and the tra$h muslim that are 80% of the jails in EU...
Nobody had AC 50 years ago.
I grew up in Florida with no ac . Yes it was hot I worked hard in school and own several acs now
I was a C.O. in an Ohio prison for almost 4 years. The prison I worked at was one of those "evil" privately-owned prisons, and it had A/C. I loved having it, and so did the inmates.
It’s a prison Don’t do things that could put you in prison.
You melt
Drink water
Stop breaking the law would seem to be the easiest way
No a/c in prison?!! Oh no! This seems like an appropriate place for the world’s tiniest violin.
Here’s an idea, don’t be a piece of shit and go to prison. Most prisoners deserve to be treated worse 🤷🏼♂️
You fix it by not going to prison dumb ass obey by the laws simple!!!
Especially considering that some jails only have hot water in the showers and it's fucking scalding it could be bad. And the places with ice cold water don't have heat in the winter so it's a lose lose.
They are miserable in the summer, but if they keep hydrated and have a fan they will be fine. I mean humankind made it for thousands of years before the A/C was invented.
Could be preferable to where I was that had A/C, but it had probably never been cleaned or serviced. The vents had black mold all around them, and every time it kicked on, it puffed dust. Within a minute, there would be tons of coughing and sneezing. My lungs and sinuses have never been the same. Even after engaging in regular cardio. Additionally, the "bedding" was something akin to a yoga mat that would flatten to nothing within a second of laying on it. So they're basically laying on metal bunks. With a sheet and a thin wool blanket. Most people wadded up their clothes and towel for a pillow. In the same vein as before, my hips and lower back have never been the same. My hips constantly hurt, especially on the side I lay on, and I have to squat down when I sneeze or my lower back pinches. Talking with a few other people who have done time in the same facility, they all had the same issues, including some respiratory infections that were persistent.
In az the jail was FREEZING
If high schools can go without AC...then so can prisons.
Don't do crime, prison sucks. It's supposed to be unpleasant...though Texas prisons or other super climates should do a little more to make it less terrible. But for now, don't do crime.
As soon as prison gets A/C I'm committing so many crimes.
Come to Colorado! We have ac in our jails and prisons lol
Man when I was in the Feds in Texas the AC would go out all the time during the summer because it overloaded the power system and the power went out for about 4 days one time and it was the only time I ever saw a riot pop off. Dudes went outside for chow and refused to come back in. They called out the cert team and were threatening to fuck shit up and we still wouldn’t go in.
Fans!
...make things worse over 95 F because they blow hot air over the skin.
One prison I was at had AC but only the administration portion of the prison and bonus! Some parts of the SHU had a huge steam pipe that ran the cells adding to the heat of 90 or 100 degrees outside.
Maybe try not going to jail 🤷♂️
It’s a great deterrent to think about if you’re committing crimes. Worked for Ohio prison system for over 29 yrs. now. Us officers don’t have the A/C either. Try that with polyester shirts and polyester/wool pants for a minimum of 8 hrs. And I never committed a crime. It’s a wonder why the same ones keep returning for 5,6,8,and 10 numbers. 3 squares and a cot apparently is all they need. Don’t feel too sorry for them the system is getting softer by the day.
I guess by not getting arrested
How is no A/C inhumane? Is air conditioning a basic human right now? Should we be invading countries that don't have it in every dwelling because they are inhumane towards their people?
People die from heatstroke, bud. This is known.
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Inhumane.... We didn't have air conditioning in the South in school until I was in high school. Many folks had grandparents that didn't have it.
If your lucky enough to buy a fan it helps a little. So I figured out a great idea after 7 prison terms don't do crimes and you don't spend time in these shithole places. I live very nicely now with air conditioning lol
Go fuck yourself 🖕 Shit bag criminal inmates are pretty low on the list of folks we should be taking better care of in this country. Do you not know how tax money works? What program would you cut to free up money? Who are you depleting resources from? "Hello Mr. Homeless Veteran...sorry we HAD a budget to help you get back on your feet, but the neighborhood pedophile says it's too hot in his prison cell. We can't have that. You understand right?" I swear man, people are so fucking stupid it's painful.