Stolen Lives: Alabama man ‘baked to death’ in overheated mental health prison cell

Reporting from the AP: “Thomas Lee Rutledge died of hyperthermia on Dec. 7, 2020, at William E. Donaldson Correctional Facility in Bessemer. Rutledge had an internal temperature of 109 degrees when he was found unresponsive in the mental health cell, according to the lawsuit which was filed by the man’s sister and names prison staff, […]
‘I thought I was going to die there.’ What it’s like to live with rising temperatures in prison

A new report released last month by Texas A&M University details consequences of extreme heat in Texas prisons, where a lack of air conditioning poses dangerous conditions for those incarcerated as well as staff. It’s a problem that is not limited to just the state — or only the American southwest — and some experts and advocates […]