A Judge Ordered Texas to Air-Condition Every Prison. Why Did It Take a Lawsuit?
Aqua Jones| September 24, 2026
Texas has until December 31, 2029, to install air conditioning in every state prison under a federal court order issued this week. U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman found that extreme heat in uncooled prisons violates the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment. He ordered prison officials to begin a plan immediately and report their progress to the court every six months.
The numbers show how much work remains. As of September 1, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice said just 38 of its 104 facilities were fully air-conditioned, with 53 more partially cooled. It reported 53,676 cooled beds. The court estimated that nearly 90,000 incarcerated people went without air conditioning this past summer.
This ruling did not emerge from a debate about comfort. The judge found credible evidence of at least nine deaths from 2023 through 2025 in which heat played a role: three acknowledged by TDCJ and at least six additional deaths established through evidence presented in the case. The agency has disputed some of the deaths attributed to heat.
People who lived through Texas prison summers helped bring this case forward. Lioness Justice Impacted Women’s Alliance, an organization founded by formerly incarcerated women and gender-expansive people, is one of the plaintiffs. Its members inside TDCJ facilities have reported the conditions they face, and its leaders have pushed for air conditioning through advocacy as well as litigation. Their work belongs at the center of this story.
TDCJ says it will appeal. The department disputes the judge’s finding that it acted with deliberate indifference and says it has heat mitigation measures in place. It has also been adding cooled beds. According to The Texas Tribune, TDCJ estimates that systemwide air conditioning could cost about $1.5 billion. An appeal could change the order or its timeline; the stated deadline remains December 31, 2029.
No Chill question: How much suffering does Texas require before it treats safe temperatures in its prisons as a basic obligation?
The order sets a deadline. People in uncooled cells still have to live through the summers between now and then. We’ll be watching the appeal, the state’s funding decisions and the progress reports to see whether the court’s ruling turns into cooler, safer conditions.
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