Hazard center scholar documents dangerous heat in Texas prisons
Record-breaking 2022 summer heat means that incarcerated people and correctional officers are inside Texas prison units that are dangerously hot.
Pioneering research led by Carlee Purdum, a research assistant professor at Texas A&M’s Hazard Reduction & Recovery Center, is documenting these conditions; temperatures inside units have been shown to regularly reach 110 degrees.
“Nearly every year, there are reports of incarcerated people and staff falling extremely ill and/or dying from complications from extreme heat in Texas prisons,” said a report of Purdum’s findings published by the Hazard Reduction Recovery Center and the Texas Prisons Community Advocates.
Purdum’s research associates included Amite Dominick, founding president, Texas Prison Community Advocates, and Benika Dixon, visiting assistant professor, Texas A&M School of Public Health.
