TAMPA, Fla. — The scorching heat made this summer one for the record books, sending Floridians to the water or to hole up in their air-conditioned homes and offices.
But there's one population who can't seek relief from the heat — people who work and live in Florida's state prisons.
On a scorching 95-degree day in Orlando, a group of prison reform advocates, loved ones, and lawmakers gathered outside of City Hall to try to get that changed.
As attendees complained about the heat, wiping sweat from their brows, reaching for cold water bottles, and gathering under a tent for shade, the point was brought up — think about how much hotter it is in a Florida prison cell.
Most of Florida's state prisons don't have air conditioning; something advocates told the ABC Action News I-Team is dangerous to everyone inside.
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It wasn't until Connie Edson's loved one was incarcerated that she learned about the lack of air conditioning. Edson was behind the push to get a pilot program at Lowell Correctional Institution, the women's prison in Ocala, along with Gainesville Democratic State Rep. Yvonne Hayes Hinson.
The pilot program is testing portable air conditioning units. Still, Edson said, more needs to be done, and fast.
“We’ve just gotten to a point this year that, you know, enough is enough," Edson said.
The I-Team traveled to the event that Saturday in August, where prison reform advocates called on lawmakers to fund portable AC units at more state prisons to provide relief for what they call a "heat crisis."
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“It was Ms. Connie that educated me on what was happening in our state prisons," Orange County Democratic State Rep. LaVon Bracy Davis said at the event. "It made me go out, it made me visit, it made me ask questions of these wardens and what can we do to effect change?"
Edson acknowledged the portable units aren't a permanent solution for the lack of air conditioning.
"It's not. But you know what, it’s going to help people right now. It’s going to help the correctional officers and help us get volunteers so we can do the programs we were funded for, for this year," Edson said.
One of those volunteers is Matt Umbers.
“This is torture for them, and when I asked them if there’s one thing I can be your voice for on the outside, anything, you take your pick, they said the heat," Umbers said.
Ruben Saldaña, who spent nearly 20 years in prison and now mentors Orlando-area kids, said that's because of the problems the heat causes.
“That’s when the violence comes out. What when the officers are no longer safe within the institutions themselves," Saldaña said. “I’m not saying give us a golf course. I’m not saying that. I’m just saying create conditions where it’s not so dangerous.”
Mark Caruso, a former sergeant for the Florida Department of Corrections (FDC), said his approach is to keep the focus on helping the officers.
"If we can better the conditions for them, what’s going to happen? The conditions for the inmates are going to improve drastically," he said.
In the last legislative session, lawmakers increased the amount of money that will stay in state prisons from the annual inmate trust fund. The fund isn't made up of tax dollars — it's the money loved ones put into inmates' accounts to buy things like soap and toothpaste and to make phone calls. None of that money goes to air conditioning.
“We’re taking better care of our animals than we’re taking care of our loved ones in our prison," Tampa Democratic State Rep. Dianne Hart said.
Hart's "Inmate Treatment Bill" has called for all prisons to have air conditioning or air cooling systems.
“Now that my colleagues on the opposite side of the aisle are beginning to visit our facilities, I think we may see some change," Hart said.
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In a statement, FDC said, "All non-air conditioned dorms use some form of climate control to mitigate heat, such as fans or exhaust systems" and "all housing units contain refrigerated water fountains to provide a source of cool water for the inmate population."
The response differs from the description provided by those who work inside the prisons.
“You have to take your clothes off and lay in your underwear on a concrete floor, trapped in a 10x10 concrete room, and pour water on the floor so you can keep your body temperature at a correct level to survive it," Keith Harris, who represents incarcerated people through the Florida Justice League, said.
The I-Team sent a list of questions to the Florida Department of Corrections:
- How long the pilot program is expected to last?
- What instructions do inmates and staff get on how to prevent heat-related illnesses?
- How many inmates and staff were treated for heat-related illnesses?
- Is ice water being provided?
Weeks later, the FDC has not responded, and we have continued requesting the information.
Edson, too, is not giving up on her mission to have portable AC units stationed in Florida prisons.
“I won’t rest until we have these in all of the facilities," she said.
