"As we march into what climate scientists predict could be one of the hottest years on record, plenty of us will be cranking up the air conditioning, sitting in front of a fan, or sweating on our front porches.

But imagine the torment of trying to find relief by lying on a cold prison floor or cooling off with toilet water.

This is not a scene from a dystopian novel. It’s a reality for people experiencing the suffocating confines of incarceration.

Temperatures within America’s prison walls are often unbearable. And, given the unjust demographics of who gets locked up in the United States — 38.5% of incarcerated people are Black, even though we only make up 13.6% of the population — hot prisons disproportionately impact Black incarcerated individuals."

Maya Richard-Craven reports for Word in Black June 8, 2023. [2]