Texas Department Of Criminal Justice

Under a little-known Texas elections law, state prison inmates who are actively appealing their convictions are eligible to register and vote.

The state of Texas is being sued over the lack of air conditioning in its prisons, where indoor temperatures can top 100 degrees in the summer. In federal court, inmates detailed the extreme measures they’ve taken to get out of the heat, like starting fires or inflicting self-harm.

Newly released autopsies show extreme temperatures in state prisons may have contributed to multiple recent deaths behind bars. But the state says heat hasn’t killed any prisoners in more than a decade. A lawsuit challenging Texas prison heat protocols will be heard in federal court on Tuesday.

The courts, along with federal and state lawmakers, have created a series of barriers against improving prison conditions with air conditioning.

Temperatures in cells often stay in the 90s for hours and can reach into the triple digits. Officials say there is no evidence the heat is killing prisoners, despite a spike in prison deaths that independent analysts attribute to the heat.

A study published last November links 271 deaths between 2001 and 2019 to unairconditioned Texas prisons. An analysis of state data showed that a spike in the mortality rate has hit Texas prisons system-wide.

Inmates say food melts in front of them and claim their cells' temperatures exceed 150 degrees.

Prison researchers were shocked to learn that women in Texas Department of Criminal Justice's security detention are issued a thick white gown instead of the two-piece uniform men are issued. No official explanation was offered.

The 78-year-old Carl Wayne Buntion died by lethal injection on Thursday for murdering Houston police officer James Irby during a traffic stop in 1990.

From Texas Standard:The Texas Department of Criminal Justice announced Wednesday that it's locking down 15 prisons in response to the coronavirus crisis.…