A recent report found extreme heat can be lethal for incarcerated people. Connecticut and other Northeastern states experienced a 21% increase in deaths after two-day heat waves between 2001 and 2019. Southwestern states saw milder increases during the same period, and longer heat waves across the country are an increasing problem. .
After Republican Congressman Hal Rogers inserted language into the latest House appropriations bill which would bypass environmental regulatory processes related to the building of a $500 million federal prison in Letcher County, environmental experts say clearing the region s old-growth forest to build the prison would permanently degrade the environment and increase the likelihood of severe flood damage. Julia Finch, Kentucky chapter director for the Sierra Club, said construction of the more 1,400-bed facility and prison camp would remove natural flood buffers, leaving the landscape unstable and communities at heightened risk. "The footprint of USP Letcher is approximately 570 acres," Finch pointed out. " .