When it’s as hot as it is now, it’s easy to sympathize with those who lack air conditioning.
You have to wonder how Mississippi teachers and students stood it decades ago when most schools didn’t have air conditioning.
But there’s been one group in this state for which there has been little climate compassion — state inmates.
The general attitude was that those who break the law need to suffer for their crimes, and if suffering means being miserably hot in the summer, not to mention eaten up by mosquitos, then so be it.
The renewed scrutiny of the U.S. Justice Department of Mississippi’s prison conditions, though, has finally prompted the state to do what it should have done decades ago — provide air conditioning to its prisons.
The installations have begun at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman, historically the most deplorable prison in the state. Mississippi Today reported this week that 40% of the inmates at Parchman now live in air-conditioned quarters, with the rest of the prison expected to be covered by the time it heats up again next year. After that, the other two state-owned prisons will get air conditioning as well.
This is not just a matter of compassion. It’s also the smart thing to do in managing the prison population. Besides being inhumane and medically dangerous, sweltering temperatures inside a prison contribute to discipline problems. Interior temperatures in the 100s would put anyone in a foul mood. If those conditions go on for long, they push people toward violence and insanity.
Although the inmates suffer the most from such excessive heat for prolonged periods of time, it’s also brutal on the prison guards. That may be another reason, besides low pay for the risk involved, that makes it hard to hire them.
Even with air conditioning, being in prison is no cake walk. But at least it’s not torture. Thank goodness that Mississippi has finally realized this.
