Create Blog Post “does-heat-death”

content/blog/posts/does-heat-death.md

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+---
+title: "Does Heat = Death? "
+subtitle: It's not an easy equation to solve.
+date: 2024-05-11
+topics:
+  - incarceration
+authors:
+  - Eva Ruth Moravec
+  - Bergan Casey
+  - Maddie Clendening
+hero: https://res.cloudinary.com/texas-justice-initiative/image/upload/v1716148148/Custodial_Deaths_per_Month_in_2022_and_2023_bwyb2z.png
+---
+Like many others who endured last summer’s unbearable heat and have some understanding of what conditions are like  in Texas prisons, Texas Justice Initiative (TJI) has wondered: Was heat a factor in the deaths of people behind bars, even though the state hasn’t reported a heat-related death since 2012? 
+
+Unfortunately, the answer is hazy.
+
+Here’s what we know: 
+
+* During 2022 and 2023, the highest total number of custodial deaths in Texas prisons occurred in the month of July of 2023 (76). 
+* Of the custodial deaths in July of 2023, most occurred in facilities that had only partial AC throughout. 
+
+But there is a lot we do not know because of how death data is reported. 
+
+The first challenge we faced in determining whether heat played a role in deaths was determining where an individual had been housed before they died, to see whether or not the facility was air-conditioned. While  state law requires agencies to file a Custodial Death Report that lists the death location, it’s not always the same location as  the facility where the person was incarcerated. If an individual dies in a hospital, the hospital will be listed as the death location, not the prison where they were serving their sentence and potentially got sick or were affected by weather. 
+
+To determine where the deceased individuals had been incarcerated, we relied on TDCJ’s monthly High Value Data Set. This list reflects a moment-in-time of who is serving their sentence at a particular facility on a single day each month. Because incarcerated individuals enter, exit and move between facilities from time to time, every individual is not captured in the count.
+
+Of the 76 people who died in Texas prisons in July of 2023, we could not find 16 individuals, or 21 percent, in TDCJ’s High Value Data Set.  We can say that at least 39 people, or 51 percent,were incarcerated in facilities with partial AC and at least 5 people, less than 1 percent, were incarcerated in facilities with no AC. 
+
+Another challenge: Since “heat” is not listed as a cause of death in any TDCJ death reports, we tried to see if data might reflect its impact in other ways. Specifically, we attempted to find increases in deaths associated with heat, including deaths by dehydration, cardiac arrest, coronary or cerebral thrombosis, and kidney damage. But, because reports can be vague and individuals’ medical histories were unavailable, the answer is unclear. KXAN also tried to unravel the data and [reported](https://www.kxan.com/news/texas/135-people-have-died-in-texas-prisons-since-june-1-families-demand-answers/?ipid=promo-link-block3) that from June 1 to August 11, 2023, at least 51 people died of “unexpected medical distress.” Many of those deaths were still under investigation and causes were left pending for months, but 11 deaths —22 percent — were clearly attributed to heart failure or cardiac arrest, which can be exacerbated by heat.
+
+
+
+Logically, though, it’s hard to imagine that more deaths weren’t affected by the lack of air conditioning, especially amid [devastating anecdotal accounts](https://www.texastribune.org/2023/06/28/texas-prisons-heat-deaths/) of how dangerous the Texas heat can be for prisoners. As the [Texas Observer](https://www.texasobserver.org/prison-heat-air-conditioning-texas-summer/) and others have reported, only around one-third of Texas prisons have AC across their entire facilities. We also know that [heat can exacerbate chronic illness](https://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?journal=Lancet+Planet+Health&title=Global,+regional,+and+national+burden+of+mortality+associated+with+non-optimal+ambient+temperatures+from+2000+to+2019:+a+three-stage+modelling+study&volume=5&issue=7&publication_year=2021&pages=e415-e425&pmid=34245712&doi=10.1016/S2542-5196(21)00081-4&), both in and [outside](https://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?journal=Lancet&title=Mortality+risk+attributable+to+high+and+low+ambient+temperature:+a+multicountry+observational+study&volume=386&issue=9991&publication_year=2015&pages=369-375&pmid=26003380&doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(14)62114-0&) of carceral facilities. [Research](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2798097) tells us that people who are incarcerated in facilities with no AC, or only partial AC, are at greater risk of health complications in summer months. As they have argued before, lawyers [recently filed a new complaint](https://www.texastribune.org/2024/04/22/texas-prisons-heat-deaths/) arguing that the lack of air conditioning in prisons amounts to cruel and unusual punishment. Federal prisons in Texas have a 76 degree maximum, and jails must be cooler than 85 degrees. During the last legislative session, lawmakers gave TDCJ $85 million to install air conditioning, and the agency is now adding thousands more “cool beds,” although it’s not clear how many will be added by this summer. TDCJ also institutes [special heat protocols](https://www.tdcj.texas.gov/offender_info/enhanced_heat_protocols.html) from April through October. 
+
+Anecdotally, one also might suspect that heat plays a role in prison deaths, too. For example, [Luis Sanchez](https://oag.my.site.com/cdr/VIPForm__VIP_FormWizardPDF?id=a2C8z000000DHCqEAO&templateId=a2x5A000001M2UWQA0), 50, died on June 12, 2023 from cardiac arrest after being found unresponsive in his cell at the Luther Unit in Navasota. Although the Luther Unit has partial AC, the [Texas Tribune](https://www.texastribune.org/2023/06/28/texas-prisons-heat-deaths/) reported that staff did not provide water to incarcerated individuals in the unit despite the heat index reaching 104 degrees that day. [Tommy McCullough](https://www.texastribune.org/2023/06/28/texas-prisons-heat-deaths/), 34, died at the uncooled Huntsville prison from cardiac arrest on June 23, 2023 while mowing the prison’s lawn. McCullough’s [Custodial Death Report](https://oag.my.site.com/cdr/VIPForm__VIP_FormWizardPDF?id=a2C8z000000DVMOEA4&templateId=a2x5A000001M2UWQA0) now shows methamphetamine effects to be the cause of death. Regardless, in the days before his death, [McCullough communicated](https://www.workers.org/2023/07/72375/) to his family the severe impact the heat and restricted access to water was having on him. 
+
+Unfortunately, there are [additional examples](https://www.texastribune.org/2023/06/28/texas-prisons-heat-deaths/) of heat potentially contributing to deaths in prisons. Our volunteer team has a limited bandwidth and is focused on statewide data, but would love to see others further exploring the full impact heat has had on people behind bars. How did deaths in specific facilities compare to deaths in the unincarcerated population during heat waves? For individuals whose families suspect heat played a role, what did those death investigations and autopsy reports conclude? And if lawmakers are reading: Should agencies be more transparent and forthcoming about how heat affects the health of imprisoned individuals? Join us in staying curious and seeking answers.