Older Prisoners Face Deadly Heat, Newcomb's Story Spotlights Crisis
Alarming figures reveal that older prisoners, like 65-year-old Antoinette Newcomb, are disproportionately affected by harsh prison conditions. Despite constituting only 11.8% of the prison population, those over 55 accounted for 63.4% of prison deaths in custody last summer. Newcomb, serving a life sentence in Arizona, has endured 16 years without air cooling or heating systems. Last summer, temperatures in her prison soared to 120 degrees Fahrenheit, with only a single bag of ice and an open cell door for relief. Her blood pressure has risen, and she lives in constant fear of heat-related illnesses. Newcomb spends her days cleaning a small paper fan to cope with the heat, even turning it into a side business for other inmates. A 2023 study estimated that 4,479 people died from heat-related illness in U.S. prisons between 2000 and 2019. Shockingly, 13 of the hottest states still don't provide cooling in prisons, despite over 1,200 cases arguing that extreme temperatures violate the Eighth Amendment. Prison guards are supposed to report on facility temperatures but often fail to do so due to poor working conditions and understaffing. The harsh conditions in prisons, particularly the lack of climate control, pose a significant threat to inmates, especially the elderly. With temperatures in Arizona prisons reaching dangerously high levels, urgent action is needed to ensure the safety and well-being of all prisoners.
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