After sweltering temperatures killed Texas prisoners, lawmakers vote to install air conditioning
Texas Tribune
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The Beto Unit prison, operated by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice in Tennessee Colony.
As Texas braces for its notoriously scorching summer temperatures, the state House agreed to install air conditioning in dozens of uncooled prisons within seven years but only if lawmakers specifically set aside money for it.
On Thursday night, the Texas House initially passed a bill that would require all Texas lockups to be cooled over a seven-year span, capping costs at $300 million. But the state prison agency would only have to abide by the measure if lawmakers also agree to specifically provide state or federal funds toward cooling costs. The bill still needs to clear a final vote in the House Friday before moving to the Senate.
Social distancing and other contagion protocols are difficult behind bars, but an investigation by WFAA and The Marshall Project showed that the spread of COVID-19 behind bars was also due to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice s lackluster response, potentially exacerbating outbreaks and putting surrounding communities at risk.
The agency s website lists the prisoners who have died from the virus. Below is a list of those people, including Campos.
Among the list are four people who officials removed from the agency s official county of coronavirus-related deaths, even though they had tested positive for the disease. Those four are: Nichole Perez, Floyd Thomas Scott, Matthew Clayton Pouncey and Elias Villanueva, Jr.