Courts Rules Air Conditioning Not Required For Death Row
Based on where I think they might be spending eternity you'd think they'd want to spend some time getting used to the heat. Okay, that's my opinion and I can assure you that my philosophical beliefs played absolutely no part in the court ruling against three Angola death row inmates.
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled yesterday that death row inmates are not entitled to be comfortable in jail. Attorneys for the three inmates who filed suit claimed that the unbearable heat in the unairconditioned cells on Angola's death row constituted cruel and unusual punishment.
In their ruling, the Fifth Circuit determined that Angola officials did not have to prevent the heat index from reaching 88 degrees or higher. The decision overturns an earlier ruling by a lower court that required the prison to provide a means to reduce the heat in death row cells during Louisiana's sweltering summer months.
Attorneys for the three inmates are reviewing the ruling.