‘It’s torture’: brutal heat broils Texas prisons, killing dozens of inmates

Legal action aims to force criminal justice department to air condition prisons, where 85,000 are at risk of heat illnesses

When Jason Wilson was transferred in June to the Coffield Unit, a men's prison in Texas, to serve his sentence for unlawful possession of a firearm, he was initially pleased by the change of scenery. He was aware that the lock-up could be challenging in summer, given its lack of air conditioning and the intense heat in the cells, but his previous institution had been depressing.

It's better here for sure," he wrote in an email to an outside advocate.