麻豆

鈥淎 Hot Topic: Air Conditioning in Prisons鈥�

By John Stufflebeam

In Illinois, the death penalty was abolished in 2011 (725 ILCS 5/119-1), yet the Illinois Department of Corrections is still condemning men and women to death by refusing to cool prisons during the summer. Illinois frequently experiences summer temperatures of 100 degrees or more, and with global warming it is only expected to get hotter.聽 In the article, “Climate Change: Impacts and Costs to Illinois Communities,” Illinois state climatologist Trent Ford already notes, “Rising temperatures in Illinois are leading to more severe and frequent heat waves” (Ford Paragraph 6).聽 Although there is some debate about the cause of climate change, very few people doubt that the planet we all live on is actually getting hotter. According to David Wallace-Wells’ article, “The Uninhabitable Earth,” “150 million more people would die from air pollution alone in a two-degree warmer world than in a one-point-five degree warmer one,” which means that the hotter our planet becomes, the more people that will die from global warming (Wallace-Wells 506). Wallace-Wells then goes on to say, “humans could engineer a climate that is four or five degrees warmer,” which blows the one-point five degrees out of the water (509). Unfortunately, as our planet is getting hotter, the biggest questions are how much hotter it is going to get and how many people are going to die because of it.

Into the narrative about global warming, we have to insert the facts that in Illinois, prison sentences keep getting longer and the average age of the population is getting older, which means that men and women in prison are becoming more susceptible to extreme temperatures. Although there are a few facilities in Illinois that do have air conditioning in prison living areas, most prisons do not. This means that every year, thousands of men and women are forced to endure the extreme heat and humidity of Illinois. The Illinois Department of Corrections has a moral obligation to prevent prisoners from dying. Prisoners could be free from the harms of global warming and extreme heat if the Illinois Department of Corrections installed air conditioners in all of its prisons.

My Experience

Over the course of seventeen years, I have been housed in six different prisons, and not one of them has had air conditioning in the prison living areas. It has been my experience that each year there were at least three or four days when the temperature was at or over a hundred degrees, with very high humidity. On top of that, all of the prisons that I have been in have been made of brick, which means that once they get hot, they hold the heat well into the night and even after it should be cool. The few times I was out of my cell at about midnight, it was literally at least ten degrees cooler in the day room than it was in the cell and then an additional ten degrees cooler outside than it was in the day room.

Every year, at the point when there is an ambient air temperature of one hundred degrees or more, the tiny eight-inch fan that I am allowed to purchase just blows air that is hotter than skin temperature. (The Illinois Department of Corrections policy recently changed. Previously, we could purchase two six-inch fans, but now we can only possess two fans if they are both the six-inch model that is no longer sold.) As a matter of fact, in her article on Power Wizards website, blogger Christine Orlando states, "fans are not recommended when the air temperature is above 95 degrees Fahrenheit as it can cause your body to gain heat, not lose it, by blowing air that's hotter than your core body temperature” (3). As an additional bonus, not only does turning on a fan in these conditions increase body heat, but “plugging in an electric fan will actually increase the heat of a room because the electricity that is driving the van turns directly into heat” (Orlando 2).聽 Since I have been in prison, I have come to dread summer. I have spent many days lying on my bed wearing nothing but my boxers and wishing I could take off even more because it feels like I am lying in an oven. On one hand, I try to move as little as possible, and yet I have to keep turning like a rotisserie so every part of my body has a chance to cool off by being under the fan. No matter what I do, I end up lying in a puddle of sweat because I am lying on a non-breathable plastic mattress. I have been so hot that I literally wished I could die.

The Survey

Between July 28th and August 1st, 2025, I conducted an informal survey at Sheridan Correctional Center. I randomly asked forty-eight prisoners (on a scale of one to ten, one being the least and ten being the most), “How important is it to you to have air conditioning during your incarceration?” (See appendix for full results).聽 I conducted this survey during the summer in a cell house that is air conditioned. Of the forty-eight respondents that I surveyed, 72.9% (thirty-five) of them answered that air conditioning rated a ten out of ten. Out of the thirty-five that rated it a ten, seven of them even answered with a number that was higher than ten, or they indicated they would rate it higher if they could. Additionally, if we include those that answered between the numbers seven through ten, the percentage jumps to a whopping 87.5% (forty-two total). These results support the claim that air conditioning is important to the vast majority of prisoners surveyed. As a matter of fact, there was only one prisoner that said he would rate the importance of air conditioning as a one. He said that the reason air conditioning was a one to him was because fresh air was important to him, and when the Illinois Department of Corrections provides air conditioning, they do not allow windows to open, even though this situation could easily be accommodated by keeping windows that are openable.聽 We are in enclosed rooms (cells), so one prisoner could get fresh air without affecting the rest.

The Harms of Extreme Heat

During the survey, I asked an additional optional question. I asked, "Have you or anyone you know experienced health symptoms related to heat, and if yes, what?” Out of the forty-eight respondents, thirty-six responded, “Yes.” The follow up answers varied but included: sweating, lack of concentration, mental health symptoms, sleeplessness, dizziness, migraines, reading difficulties due to asthma, heat exhaustion, heat stroke, and death. My study further corroborates results in the study, “Provision of Air Conditioning and Heat-Related Mortality in Texas Prisons” conducted by Julianne Skarha et al, in which they found “in Texas prison facilities without AC between 2001 and 2019鈥�an average of 14 heat-related deaths per year during this time period.”聽 That is fourteen men and women who died every year for no other reason than the state chose to put them in a hot cell. Fourteen men and women every year that no longer have a future. Fourteen families every year that lost a loved one. Most prisoners have a date to get out of prison, but that is fourteen men and women every year that will not make it to their out-dates simply because it is too hot and the prison refuses to install air conditioners. The number right now is fourteen a year, but our planet is getting hotter. That number undoubtedly will climb as the thermometer does.聽

Someone may say, "They’re criminals. They deserve to suffer, and they definitely don't deserve air conditioning.”聽 I say that person is right; prisoners do not deserve air conditioning, but fourteen prisoners every year do not deserve to have their sentences turn from an out-date to a death sentence. Additionally, I have never met a person who has actually performed a heroic action to earn air conditioning. We have air conditioning because we live on a planet that at times gets too hot to live on, and it is only getting hotter. Air conditioning has become a basic human right. Fourteen people dying every year due to heat is an unconscionable number, but even one death is too many.聽

In my survey, four respondents specifically mentioned Michael Broadway. He was a prisoner at Statesville prison in Crest Hill, Illinois that died due to heat-related symptoms on June 19th, 2024. In the Truthout article, “I Watched My Neighbor Die a Preventable Death Due to Scorching Heat in Prison,” Robert John wrote, “Michael graduated from Northwestern University with a bachelor's degree, published a book, and beat stage 4 prostate cancer, among other feats.”聽 Michael Broadway had the potential for a bright future that was robbed from him because the state would not give him air conditioning. Some people say air conditioning is too expensive. Anyone that knew Michael Broadway would say that his life was worth more than the cost to install and operate air conditioning. Additionally, the state would save money by avoiding lawsuits, and, when a prisoner is restored to society, they could contribute money into the economy rather than just being a burden during their final years.

A Picture of Freedom

According to Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, freedom is defined as “the quality or state of being exempt or released, usually from something onerous.” It may seem to be an oxymoron to say that I can be free while I am in prison, but prisoners can and should be free from the onerous effects of heat. I am currently in one of the very few cellhouses in the state that has air conditioning. As I am writing this paper, the temperature outside is approaching ninety degrees, and yet I am able to function. I am not sweating, and I am breathing freely. I can sleep well at night, and I have been paroled from the fear of dying from heat. I have been released from having to lie on my bunk and try not to move. I have been freed from having to lie in a puddle of my own sweat. This looks like freedom to me.

Being free in prison also includes the freedom from dying from an unnatural cause. Every time someone dies from heat in prison, it is the ultimate loss of freedom. The saddest reality is that every heat-related death is preventable. In the article, “Rising Temperatures, the Prison Litigation Reform Act, and the Heat Death of Human Dignity in Texas Prisons,” Brianne Wylie informs readers “the CDC has stated that air conditioning is the most effective means to counteract heat-related illnesses” (782).聽 Death is the ultimate loss of freedom, so the Illinois Department of Corrections should make sure everyone has the most basic freedom, which is life.

Conclusion

Someone may say that the state has no moral duty to provide air conditioners to prisoners. I say the state does have a more obligation to provide air conditioning because otherwise the state is sentencing men and women to die in prison, even though there is no death penalty in Illinois. Additionally, the state loses its moral superiority when it locks people up for involuntary manslaughter, which is defined as, “a person who unintentionally kills an individual鈥� if his acts鈥� are such as are聽 likely to cause death” (720 ILCS 5/9-3). There can no longer be any doubt that extreme heat is killing prisoners. With global warming, the number of prisoners that die from heat-related causes will continue to climb. If the Illinois Department of Corrections installed air conditioners in all of its facilities, prisoners would be freed from the harms caused by global warming and extreme heat. Freedom from profuse sweating, lack of concentration, mental health symptoms, sleeplessness, dizziness, migraines, reading difficulties due to asthma, heat exhaustion, and death would make the entire world a better place.

Works Cited

Ford, Trent. “Climate Change: Impacts and Cost to Illinois Communities.” Prairie Research 
Institute, May 6, 2025.    

“Freedom, N (I-C),”Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 10th ed, Merriam Webster, 1999, 
p 464.

Illinois, Congress. Public Laws 725 ILCS 5/119-1 and 720 ILCS 5/9-3. Illinois Compiled 
Statutes 2025. Accessed on Fastcase Digital Law Library App on 08/09/2025.

John, Robert. “I Watched My Neighbor Die a Preventable Death Due to Scorching Heat In 
Prison.” Truthout July 13th, 2024. 

Orland, Christine. “Fan vs. Air Conditioner Electricity Usage.” Power Wizard, Feb. 
1, 2022,

Skarha, Julianne, Amite Domnick, Keith Spangler et al. “Provision of Air Conditioning and 
Heat-Related Mortality in Texas Prisons.” Jama Network Open 5(11) Nov. 2, 2022, 

Stufflebeam, John. “The Importance of A/C.” Survey Conducted at Sheridan Correctional 
Center, 08/01/2025.

Wallace-Wells, David. “The Uninhabitable Earth.” They Say/I Say: The Moves That Matter in 
Academic Writing, Ed. Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein, 6th ed, W. W. Norton, 2024, 
pp 505-513.

Wylie, Brianne. “Rising Temperatures, The Prison Litigation Reform Act, and the Heat Death of 
Human Dignity in Texas Prisons.” Northwestern Law Review. Vol 119, No. 3, 2024, pp 775-810.  

Appendix

The Importance of A/C, by John Stufflebeam

I randomly asked 50 incarcerated individuals if they would fill out a questionnaire and return it to me. The questionnaire had no space for a person's name on it, so it was intended to be anonymous. This survey was conducted at Sheridan Correctional Center which is an adult male facility designated medium security. The survey was conducted during the summer in a cell house that has air conditioning. The questionnaire was passed out on July 7th, 2025 and had a cut-off date of August 1st of 2025, when it needed to be returned. By the cutoff date, 48 individuals returned their questionnaires. The questionnaire contained the following three questions: 

1) On a scale of 1 to 10 ( one being the least and 10 being the most),  how important is it to you to have air conditioning during your incarceration? 

2) (Optional) Why is air conditioning important to you?

3) (Optional) Have you or anyone you know experienced health symptoms related to heat             (If yes, what?).               

Forty individuals returned their surveys by the cutoff date and what follows is survey results. In response to the first question, the numbers of each response were: 1-1, 1-2, 0-3, 3-5, 1-6, 4-7, 2-8, 1-9 and 35-10. Of the 35 that responded 10, seven of them either responded with a number higher than 10, or responded that they would rate it higher if they could.      

For the answer to the second question, only two individuals chose not to answer it. It was an open-ended question, the answers varied, but most were about health, mental health, comfort, or being treated humanely. The one outlier that responded with a one to the first question responded to the second question that AC was not important to him because fresh air was more important.      

For the final question, I asked about health symptoms related to heat. Of the 48 questionnaires returned, five did not have an answer, and seven men responded with just “no.” Thirty-six men responded “yes” and had various answers. The most common response was “difficulty breathing due to asthma.” Other answers included migraines, heat stroke, heat exhaustion, sleeplessness, fainting, dizziness, profuse sweating, lack of concentration, and death. Four respondents specifically mentioned Michael Broadway dying, and one mentioned the individual had died and needed to be revived.  

I enjoyed doing the survey. I was not surprised that most individuals chose 10 out of 10. Thirty-five out of forty-eight, or 72.9% of the respondents, said AC was very important to them (10 out of 10).  If you include 7 through 10 it jumps to a whopping 87.5% (42 total respondents).  I was surprised by the one individual who responded with one, but after he explained that he prefers fresh air, I understand. I was also surprised at the number of individuals, nine, that responded that either they suffered health symptoms or knew someone that had, and yet they marked the importance of AC at 7 or lower. Two individuals marked 5, one marked 6, and four marked 7. Out of the 48 questionnaires, 36 were marked that the respondents either suffered from health symptoms related to heat or they knew someone that had. While sorting the data I realized that I should have asked the respondents to differentiate who had suffered the symptoms. Four questionnaires specifically mentioned Michael Broadway, 10 specified that the respondent had suffered the effects, but most did not. I have no way of knowing from this survey how many different individuals suffered symptoms, or if just a few that were known by many people. Overall, 72.9% of individuals thought AC was very important to them. Since this is such a significant issue to a significant portion of the population, IDOC should consider looking into it.