- The piece discusses the issue of extreme heat in prisons, particularly in the United States.
- Many prisons lack air conditioning in their housing areas, leading to dangerously high temperatures, especially in the summer.
- Older prisoners and those with chronic medical conditions are particularly vulnerable to heat-related illnesses.
- The lack of proper cooling systems in prisons has been criticized by the U.N. Committee Against Torture.
- Some prison officials and lawmakers claim that installing air conditioning is too expensive, despite spending significant amounts on other facilities.
- Half measures, such as using fans and water misters, are ineffective and can even worsen the situation.
- There have been cases of delayed medical treatment for heat-related issues, leading to deaths in some instances.
- The attitude towards addressing the problem of heat in prisons is often dismissive and lacks urgency.

- The video discusses the issue of prisoners suffering and dying from extreme heat in prisons
- The speaker criticizes a person's response in a deposition, highlighting their lack of knowledge and understanding
- The video mentions that this problem is not limited to just Texas, but is also present in other states
- The solution proposed is to provide air conditioning in prisons to prevent harm to prisoners
- The video concludes by questioning the morality of subjecting prisoners to extreme heat and the lack of understanding behind this decision.

John Oliver explains how the failure to air-condition prisons can cause both physical and mental health issues for incarcerated people, and why the solution is simpler than you might think.

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-♪ ♪ -♪ ♪ Our main story tonight concerns the fact that summer's here.

It's been getting hotter and hotter outside, so we thought, why not take a break and have some summer fun?

We're allowed to have some summer fun, right?

So tonight, we're gonna talk about popsicles.

There are tons of them in America, and when they get too hot, it can be a real problem.

You remember what our summer fun episode was this time last year?

And look, the fact is, heat in prisons is a big problem.

We've talked repeatedly on this show about the injustices of mass incarceration and how little society seems to care.

And a pretty good example of that is the fact that in some of the hottest areas of the country, these states, over half the prisons lack air conditioning in their housing areas.

And in Texas, that's the case in nearly 75 percent of their prisons.

Because in summer, the heat index inside of them can hit 150 degrees.

Plus, there is a growing population of older prisoners whose age makes them more susceptible to the heat.

And over 40 percent of incarcerated people have a chronic medical condition raising the risk of heat stroke.

So, a lot of them worry about what happens when the weather turns hot.

I have heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes.

There's 3 conditions that even TDC admits could make a person susceptible to extreme heat conditions.

So my heart has to work a whole lot harder than the average guy just to try to cool my body down.

And as a result, I suffer from extreme chest pains on days where it's extremely hot.

And I would argue that the only time getting murdered by the heat is acceptable is if you've committed the crime of being a lobster.

But unless you happen to be a tasty sea weirdo with edible arms and a pile of scrumptious ass meats that pairs beautifully with melted butter, I'm gonna say that that is very wrong.

And physical conditions are just 1 part of this.

Prisons also house an increasing number of people with mental health concerns who require medications that can compromise their body's ability to regulate temperature.

So, many avoid taking their medications when it's hot, which may explain why there is an increase in the frequency of suicide watches and self-harm behaviors during the summer months.

Committee Against Torture has expressed particular concern about deaths from extreme heat exposure in prison facilities in Texas.

And while you probably assumed Texas prisons were bad, maybe not International Human Rights Watch List bad.

And just to get this out of the way right at the start, if anyone is thinking, well, come on, it's prison.

These criminals should not be comfortable.

They're human beings who, I would argue, deserve humane treatment regardless of what they did.

But even if you are fully on board with our current system of punitive justice on a ridiculous scale, you should know, even some of those upholding this system find the current situation indefensible.

Just listen to the former head of 1 correctional officers' union.

You know, I don't have love for these people.

We're not trying to make this, lush in, We're trying to make it humane.

We're supposed to run prisons, not concentration camps.

These are institutions for incarceration.

And just take a moment to absorb the sentence, we're supposed to run prisons, not concentration camps.

If someone helping to run a system is comparing it to a concentration camp, things have gotten way out of hand.

If someone said, We're supposed to run a Quiznos, not a concentration camp.

You would seriously question what the fuck is going on at that Quiznos.

So tonight, let's talk about heat in prisons.

Let's start with the obvious question here.

If prisons are too hot, which many clearly are, why not put in air conditioning?

And that does seem like a pretty easy fix, but whenever it's brought up, lawmakers and prison officials have claimed they simply cannot afford it.

Although, when making that argument, they've occasionally been slightly more honest than they were perhaps planning to be.

Like when this Texas state senator appeared on local radio.

You know, we can talk about this all day.

The prisons are hot, they're uncomfortable.

And the real solution is don't commit a crime and you stay at home and be cool.

We're not gonna air condition them, 1, we don't want to, number 2, we couldn't afford it if we wanted to.

Because after you say that, It doesn't really matter what you say next.

If people don't care about fixing a problem, they're just not going to fix it, however simple the solution is.

It's why your software update still interrupts you every single day.

Sure, you could just click on the alert and follow the basic steps to make the updates, but have you done that?

Because you could not give 1 single, solitary fuck.

And it seems that Texas in particular really doesn't want to put in air conditioning.

It actually spent 7000000 dollars on a lawsuit to fight installing AC in 1 prison's housing area, despite the fact the estimated cost of installation was only around 4000000.

And they've also thrown around some suspiciously high estimates.

They once claimed that it would cost $109 million to install AC in a unit for developmentally disabled prisoners.

Even though the entire housing unit cost just $26 million to build.

And look, I admit, I don't know much about AC installation.

If you pointed at a random building and said, it cost $10,000 to install AC in there, I'd say, okay, sure.

And if you point at another 1 and said, it cost $3 million to install it in there, I'd say, yeah, makes sense.

But if you pointed at a building and said, it cost 4 times the price of that building to install AC in it, I'd say, I think you somehow know less about air conditioning than I do.

And that too expensive argument gets even harder to take when you consider that in some prisons, there is climate control, just not for the prisoners.

Because some have AC in staff offices, and then there is this.

2 years ago, prison officials spent more than $700,000 on new climate-controlled housing facilities.

Officials say the cooling systems are, quote, consistent with any swine operation.

Look, I'm not against pigs getting treated comfortably.

They're springy tails, they're 2 big ears, they're stupid flat noses, and they're horrible eyes.

Pigs are like big chubby dogs you can eat at Christmas.

I just question prioritizing their comfort over humans.

And the thing is, correction systems do seem to acknowledge that they have a problem with heat.

It's just they often try to treat it with ridiculous half measures.

The Texas prison system even produced this video on what staff should do when they see someone about to pass out from heat exhaustion.

If conscious and alert, have the person drink water or a rehydrating sports drink.

Do not give them caffeinated drinks, as these will contribute to further dehydration.

Sprinkle or spray them with water, and apply cool water or wet cloths to the person's neck, armpits, and groin.

Okay, Flicking water in their face and fanning them with a clipboard is just not going to cut it.

And at that point, it makes basically just as much sense to recommend lick the person's sweat off their forehead or rub them with a DVD of Captain Phillips.

Sure, it's technically a gesture, but it's not going to do much.

And the problem is, when prisons use things like large fans and water misters, they only help to a certain threshold of heat, and beyond it, they can actually make things worse.

Water misters increase humidity, and the CDC has explicitly said that it does not recommend the use of fans above a 95-degree heat index, as they actually increase heat stress by blowing air that is warmer than the body's temperature.

And dangerous situations get compounded by the fact that when heat-related issues occur, prisons can show very little urgency in addressing them.

He was serving an 11-month sentence for cashing a bad check and began showing symptoms of heat stroke.

But prison employees didn't call EMS until over 40 minutes after he was found convulsing.

When McCullum finally arrived at the hospital, His body temperature was 109 degrees, and he died days later.

And when that prison's warden was questioned about the delay in medical treatment, this was his ridiculous response.

If you were at home and your wife was having a heart attack, and you called 911, and it took a half hour for them to arrive, would you have a problem with that?

I wouldn't know if she had a heart attack or not.

If my wife was having a heart attack and I called 911 and it took a half hour for an ambulance to arrive, you don't feel comfortable saying that you too would have an issue with that?

I would have to figure out whether it's a heart attack or not.

First, no 1 would ever confuse someone having violent convulsions with having bad chili.

Second, bad chili has a name and it's called Hormel.

Show some respect to that can of bean nightmares.

And finally, guessing your wife's heart attack might be just Bad Chili is a terrible answer.

Not only because that's not how heart attacks work, it's also not how hypotheticals work.

In this scenario, your wife is having a heart attack.

If someone asks, if you could have dinner with anyone, living or dead, who would you choose?

You're not allowed to say, no thanks, I already ate.

And amazingly, as bad as that response was, it wasn't even the worst moment in his deposition.

Because months later, he was asked about how the population of his prison might be more susceptible to heat-related illnesses.

And just watch this infuriating exchange.

of the people who come into your facility are going to be older than 40?

Do you suspect that some of the people that are gonna come into your facility are gonna be on psychotropic medications?

Shouldn't he or she know the answers to those questions?

I almost wish that line of questioning had continued.

Do you suspect that some of the people who come into your facilities are fire mutants powered by heat?

Do you have a tattoo of Peppa Pig on your lower back?

If you were sure no 1 would ever find out, would you have consensual sex with a dolphin?

Would you hit Bruce Willis with your car if given the opportunity?

Why do you think responding with, I do not know, to every question asked of a person makes them sound like a total dipshit.

So look, when you put all of this together, prisoners in this country are desperately uncomfortable and sometimes dying due to the heat.

And no 1 seems to give enough of a shit to do anything about it.

And while a lot of the facilities that I've shown you tonight have been in Texas, that is not because it's the only culprit.

It's just 1 of the only states where this story has been extensively reported on camera.

But you can find accounts of similar problems in places like Louisiana, and in Alabama, and in Florida, and in Michigan, and in Virginia.

This is a deadly situation, and it's only going to get worse, especially as summers are getting hotter and hotter.

And while this is clearly just 1 small part of a much larger discussion about whether and how prisons should exist in this country.

Until such time as we have that discussion, there's actually an easy solution to this 1 problem, and that is, prisons need air conditioning, so put air conditioning in.

I know this show has trained you to anticipate nuance, but this 1 is really pretty straightforward.

We shouldn't be cooking prisoners to death.

That's just not something we should be allowing under any circumstances, because locking human beings in rooms with a heat index of 150 degrees begs the question, how on Earth could anyone anywhere think that it's okay to do that?

And to borrow the go-to answer of an extremely weird, extremely cruel man, I do not know.


Speaker 0: -♪ ♪ -♪ ♪ Our main story tonight concerns the fact that summer's here. It's been getting hotter and hotter outside, so we thought, why not take a break and have some summer fun? We're allowed to have some summer fun, right? So tonight, we're gonna talk about popsicles. There are tons of them in America, and when they get too hot, it can be a real problem.

Sorry, did I say popsicles? I meant prisons. We're gonna talk about prisons. There are tons of them in America, and when they get too hot, it can be a real problem. Don't act surprised.

You knew no fun was happening here. You remember what our summer fun episode was this time last year? Voting by mail. Don't be mad at me, be mad at yourself. You chose to be here.

And look, the fact is, heat in prisons is a big problem. We've talked repeatedly on this show about the injustices of mass incarceration and how little society seems to care. And a pretty good example of that is the fact that in some of the hottest areas of the country, these states, over half the prisons lack air conditioning in their housing areas. And in Texas, that's the case in nearly 75 percent of their prisons. And that is not good.

Because in summer, the heat index inside of them can hit 150 degrees. Plus, there is a growing population of older prisoners whose age makes them more susceptible to the heat. And over 40 percent of incarcerated people have a chronic medical condition raising the risk of heat stroke. So, a lot of them worry about what happens when the weather turns hot.

Speaker 1: I have heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes. There's 3 conditions that even TDC admits could make a person susceptible to extreme heat conditions. So my heart has to work a whole lot harder than the average guy just to try to cool my body down. And as a result, I suffer from extreme chest pains on days where it's extremely hot. I get sick real fast.

Speaker 0: That is remarkably dangerous. And I would argue that the only time getting murdered by the heat is acceptable is if you've committed the crime of being a lobster. But unless you happen to be a tasty sea weirdo with edible arms and a pile of scrumptious ass meats that pairs beautifully with melted butter, I'm gonna say that that is very wrong. And physical conditions are just 1 part of this. Prisons also house an increasing number of people with mental health concerns who require medications that can compromise their body's ability to regulate temperature.

So, many avoid taking their medications when it's hot, which may explain why there is an increase in the frequency of suicide watches and self-harm behaviors during the summer months. This situation is so bad, the U.N. Committee Against Torture has expressed particular concern about deaths from extreme heat exposure in prison facilities in Texas. And while you probably assumed Texas prisons were bad, maybe not International Human Rights Watch List bad. And just to get this out of the way right at the start, if anyone is thinking, well, come on, it's prison.

These criminals should not be comfortable. First, fuck you. They're human beings who, I would argue, deserve humane treatment regardless of what they did. But even if you are fully on board with our current system of punitive justice on a ridiculous scale, you should know, even some of those upholding this system find the current situation indefensible. Just listen to the former head of 1 correctional officers' union.

Speaker 2: You know, I don't have love for these people. We're not trying to make this, lush in, We're trying to make it humane. These are third world conditions. We're supposed to run prisons, not concentration camps. These are institutions for incarceration.

The incarceration is their punishment. Not cooking them to death.

Speaker 0: Right. And just take a moment to absorb the sentence, we're supposed to run prisons, not concentration camps. If someone helping to run a system is comparing it to a concentration camp, things have gotten way out of hand. If someone said, We're supposed to run a Quiznos, not a concentration camp. You would seriously question what the fuck is going on at that Quiznos.

So tonight, let's talk about heat in prisons. Let's start with the obvious question here. If prisons are too hot, which many clearly are, why not put in air conditioning? And that does seem like a pretty easy fix, but whenever it's brought up, lawmakers and prison officials have claimed they simply cannot afford it. Although, when making that argument, they've occasionally been slightly more honest than they were perhaps planning to be.

Like when this Texas state senator appeared on local radio.

Speaker 3: You know, we can talk about this all day. It's not gonna change. The prisons are hot, they're uncomfortable. And the real solution is don't commit a crime and you stay at home and be cool. We're not gonna air condition them, 1, we don't want to, number 2, we couldn't afford it if we wanted to.

Speaker 0: Well, hold on there. Let's back up to number 1, shall we? We don't want to. Because after you say that, It doesn't really matter what you say next. If people don't care about fixing a problem, they're just not going to fix it, however simple the solution is.

It's why your software update still interrupts you every single day. Sure, you could just click on the alert and follow the basic steps to make the updates, but have you done that? Of course not. Why? Because you could not give 1 single, solitary fuck.

And it seems that Texas in particular really doesn't want to put in air conditioning. It actually spent 7000000 dollars on a lawsuit to fight installing AC in 1 prison's housing area, despite the fact the estimated cost of installation was only around 4000000. And they've also thrown around some suspiciously high estimates. They once claimed that it would cost $109 million to install AC in a unit for developmentally disabled prisoners. Even though the entire housing unit cost just $26 million to build.

And look, I admit, I don't know much about AC installation. If you pointed at a random building and said, it cost $10,000 to install AC in there, I'd say, okay, sure. And if you point at another 1 and said, it cost $3 million to install it in there, I'd say, yeah, makes sense. But if you pointed at a building and said, it cost 4 times the price of that building to install AC in it, I'd say, I think you somehow know less about air conditioning than I do. And that too expensive argument gets even harder to take when you consider that in some prisons, there is climate control, just not for the prisoners.

Because some have AC in staff offices, and then there is this.

Speaker 4: 2 years ago, prison officials spent more than $700,000 on new climate-controlled housing facilities. For prisoners, no. For the prisons, in-house pig farms. Officials say the cooling systems are, quote, consistent with any swine operation.

Speaker 0: Look, I'm not against pigs getting treated comfortably. I love pigs. They're springy tails, they're 2 big ears, they're stupid flat noses, and they're horrible eyes. Pigs are like big chubby dogs you can eat at Christmas. I just question prioritizing their comfort over humans.

And the thing is, correction systems do seem to acknowledge that they have a problem with heat. It's just they often try to treat it with ridiculous half measures. The Texas prison system even produced this video on what staff should do when they see someone about to pass out from heat exhaustion.

Speaker 5: If conscious and alert, have the person drink water or a rehydrating sports drink. Do not give them caffeinated drinks, as these will contribute to further dehydration. Sprinkle or spray them with water, and apply cool water or wet cloths to the person's neck, armpits, and groin. Fan the person if there is no breeze.

Speaker 0: Okay, Flicking water in their face and fanning them with a clipboard is just not going to cut it. And at that point, it makes basically just as much sense to recommend lick the person's sweat off their forehead or rub them with a DVD of Captain Phillips. Sure, it's technically a gesture, but it's not going to do much. And the problem is, when prisons use things like large fans and water misters, they only help to a certain threshold of heat, and beyond it, they can actually make things worse. Water misters increase humidity, and the CDC has explicitly said that it does not recommend the use of fans above a 95-degree heat index, as they actually increase heat stress by blowing air that is warmer than the body's temperature.

And dangerous situations get compounded by the fact that when heat-related issues occur, prisons can show very little urgency in addressing them. Take what happened to Larry McCullum. He was serving an 11-month sentence for cashing a bad check and began showing symptoms of heat stroke. But prison employees didn't call EMS until over 40 minutes after he was found convulsing. When McCullum finally arrived at the hospital, His body temperature was 109 degrees, and he died days later.

And when that prison's warden was questioned about the delay in medical treatment, this was his ridiculous response.

Speaker 6: If you were at home and your wife was having a heart attack, and you called 911, and it took a half hour for them to arrive, would you have a problem with that?

Speaker 2: That's speculating. I don't know. I wouldn't know if she had a heart attack or not.

Speaker 6: Okay. I would have a problem with that. Just letting you know, okay? If my wife was having a heart attack and I called 911 and it took a half hour for an ambulance to arrive, you don't feel comfortable saying that you too would have an issue with that?

Speaker 2: I would not. I would have to figure out whether it's a heart attack or not. Maybe just bad chili.

Speaker 0: What the fuck? First, no 1 would ever confuse someone having violent convulsions with having bad chili. Second, bad chili has a name and it's called Hormel. Show some respect to that can of bean nightmares. And finally, guessing your wife's heart attack might be just Bad Chili is a terrible answer.

Not only because that's not how heart attacks work, it's also not how hypotheticals work. In this scenario, your wife is having a heart attack. You can't just ignore the premise. If someone asks, if you could have dinner with anyone, living or dead, who would you choose? You're not allowed to say, no thanks, I already ate.

That's not the point of the question. And amazingly, as bad as that response was, it wasn't even the worst moment in his deposition. Because months later, he was asked about how the population of his prison might be more susceptible to heat-related illnesses. And just watch this infuriating exchange.

Speaker 2: Do you suspect that some

Speaker 6: of the people who come into your facility are going to be older than 40? I do not know. Do you suspect that some of the people that are gonna come into your facility are gonna be on psychotropic medications? I do not know. Wouldn't any competent supervisor...

Shouldn't he or she know the answers to those questions?

Speaker 2: I do not know.

Speaker 0: Okay, we get it. You don't know a lot of things. I almost wish that line of questioning had continued. Do you suspect that some of the people who come into your facilities are fire mutants powered by heat? I do not know.

Do you have a tattoo of Peppa Pig on your lower back? I do not know. If you were sure no 1 would ever find out, would you have consensual sex with a dolphin? I do not know. Would you hit Bruce Willis with your car if given the opportunity?

I do not know. Why do you think responding with, I do not know, to every question asked of a person makes them sound like a total dipshit. I do not know. So look, when you put all of this together, prisoners in this country are desperately uncomfortable and sometimes dying due to the heat. And no 1 seems to give enough of a shit to do anything about it.

And while a lot of the facilities that I've shown you tonight have been in Texas, that is not because it's the only culprit. It's just 1 of the only states where this story has been extensively reported on camera. But you can find accounts of similar problems in places like Louisiana, and in Alabama, and in Florida, and in Michigan, and in Virginia. This is a deadly situation, and it's only going to get worse, especially as summers are getting hotter and hotter. And while this is clearly just 1 small part of a much larger discussion about whether and how prisons should exist in this country.

Until such time as we have that discussion, there's actually an easy solution to this 1 problem, and that is, prisons need air conditioning, so put air conditioning in. That's it. I know this show has trained you to anticipate nuance, but this 1 is really pretty straightforward. We shouldn't be cooking prisoners to death. The end.

That's just not something we should be allowing under any circumstances, because locking human beings in rooms with a heat index of 150 degrees begs the question, how on Earth could anyone anywhere think that it's okay to do that? And to borrow the go-to answer of an extremely weird, extremely cruel man, I do not know. You

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Prison Heat: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)