Inadequate Water in Texas Oven

My fellow comrades, with the heat climbing in the 100s here in Texas our only hope for relief is an early winter. Here at the John Middleton Unit in Abilene, Texas we are forced to live in metal sheds which have 54 prisoners per pod. We are given 20 gallons of cool water twice in a 24 hour period. Once at 6am and once at 6pm. The water lasts about 1 hour at most. The lines are long as are the tempers short, which of course equals disasters. Tempers flare, arguments explode and fights are the result of being stored in these oven boxes left to bake.

As of a result of many heat-related deaths of prisoners throughout Texas I believe change is forthcoming. Remember Texas prisons are behind in times so change will eventually happen. In the meantime we prisoners must deal with these horrific conditions and find a way to survive. But survive we will. Keep writing and keep your head up.

MIM(Prisons) responds: As another prisoner reported recently, the University of Texas Human Rights Clinic recently released a report concluding conditions inside Texas prisons in the summer violate the Eighth’s Amendment prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. Many are involved in the fight against this dangerous situation. We echo this comrade’s call to all prisoners to keep documenting the conditions, and keep fighting. We need to build unity around these battles for reforms, while we educate folks about the criminal injustice system as a whole and its role as a tool of social control for the imperialists. We can not only win reforms, but we can build a broader movement to challenge the entire system.