Heat Policies and AC Availability in US Prison Systems

BACKGROUND AND AIM Climate change will increase the number of hot days and heatwaves leaving incarcerated populations particularly vulnerable to extreme heat due to their lack of agency and control over their heat exposure. Previous prison heat policy analysis has not utilized Heat Index to provide context for the implementation of policies or had access to air-conditioning data. We aimed to examine the coverage and gaps of US prison system heat policies and air-conditioning access. METHODS Prison heat policies were identified using 52 prison system (50 states, DC, and Federal Bureau of Prisons) websites and complemented by state legislation. Heat policies were analyzed using the National Weather Service’s (NWS) Heat Index Calculator on maximum reported temperature values. Facility-level air-conditioning data for 18 prison systems were public or received through public records requests by UCLA’s COVID-19 Behind Bars, with facility function, capacity, and heat risk collected from federal, state, and the Intercept’s Climate and Punishment datasets. RESULTS Half of the prison systems had publicly-available heat policies (n=52), of which 81% included temperature values (n=21). 64% of heat indices using maximum indoor temperature (n=14) would be classified as "caution” and 63% of heat indices using temperatures when respite resources would be provided (e.g. extra water) (n=8) were classified as "extreme caution” by the NWS assuming 50% relative humidity. 18% of facilities (n=374) lacked AC access completely. Among these, 55% of non-air-conditioned facilities (41,000 operational capacity) are at "severe or extreme heat risk”. Overall, 23% of facilities whose function includes serving heat-sensitive populations (n=202), lack any air-conditioning despite their heat risk. CONCLUSIONS This study emphasizes the need for national correctional temperature policies and air-conditioning requirements to protect the thermal health of those who live and work in carceral facilities. KEYWORDS environmental justice built environment prison