LOUIS — The MacArthur Justice Center has filed a case on behalf of individuals housed in Algoa Correctional Center in Missouri – a nearly 100-year-old prison without air conditioning – ahead of another historically hot summer where the heat index is predicted to rise up to 100-120 degrees, asserting the excessive heat prisoners are forced to endure violates their constitutional rights. 

Shubra Ohri, Senior Counsel, Roderick & Solange MacArthur Justice Center, said: “Extreme heat conditions pose significant health risks and can even be life-threatening. This is especially true for those who are disabled or require additional medical assistance, as well as those held in solitary confinement. And it’s just getting hotter. Algoa and Missouri Department of Corrections are not remotely ready for it.”  

Algoa has no heat mitigation policy, and they do not even record temperatures in the prison. The minimal efforts taken in the past to mitigate heat are wholly ineffective, such as access to a small fan for purchase, slightly open windows, warm showers, or unreliable access to quickly melting ice. None of these steps reduce the temperature in prisoners’ cells. Courts, including the Fifth Circuit, have already held such steps to be inadequate and unconstitutional. 

People incarcerated in solitary confinement fare even worse. People in the hole are literally trapped in burning hot cells. They are offered even less to mitigate the heat than those in general population, often limited to just a little ice a day that melts quickly. To make matters even scarier, because the solitary cells do not have emergency buttons, there is no way to get officer attention if they are having a medical emergency. 

 For more information or to speak with an expert, please contact media@macarthurjustice.org