Thread

Federal judge orders Texas to air condition all prisons by the end of 2029

120 points · 202 comments · bonefishgrill

zamadatix · 1790269744 · focus · HN ↗
Director Lumpkin should be criminally responsible for these conditions and deaths he has been indifferent to.
1. Wistar · 1790269875 · focus · HN ↗
  Such an appropriate-sounding name he has.
2. 0xDEAFBEAD · 1790270553 · focus · HN ↗
  [dead]
  1. anigbrowl · 1790271850 · focus · HN ↗
    Nobody in Europe is being forbidden access to heat mitigation with force. Spare us this obvious conservative propaganda.
    0xDEAFBEAD · 1790273441 · focus · HN ↗
    We have a situation where about ~1000x as many people are dying in Europe as in Texas prisons. For ideological reasons, people prefer to focus on the Texas prison deaths. I'd call that propaganda.
    Imagine a working-class European who needs to work in a building without A/C, and live in an apartment without A/C. The landlord/owners' association/municipality is de facto blocking A/C installation. How, exactly, is the situation so different?
    Tens of thousands of Europeans are dying. But at least they are "voluntary" deaths--if you use the word "voluntary" sufficiently creatively.
    European prisons aren't so great either. There is little evidence they have more A/C than Texas prisons: <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2026-08-07/heatwaves-expose-overcrowding-crisis-in-europes-ageing-prisons" rel="nofollow">https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2026-08-07/heatwa...
    BobaFloutist · 1790291732 · focus · HN ↗
    >We have a situation where about ~1000x as many people are dying in Europe as in Texas prisons.
    Right, because Europe has much higher population than Texas prisons. In fact, many more people are dying by heat exhaustion in Texas prisons per capita than in Europe.
    0xDEAFBEAD · 1790340250 · focus · HN ↗
    Another way of looking at is that the US generally has good A/C access except for a few niches like the Texas prison system. Europe has broadly poor A/C access. In that sense, the European A/C shortfall could meaningfully be described as 1000x as bad.
    >In fact, many more people are dying by heat exhaustion in Texas prisons per capita than in Europe.
    Based on a quick Google, Europe's population is on the order of 1000x the population of the Texas prison system. Deaths are probably at least somewhat higher per capita in the Texas prison system, but there are also probably subgroups in Europe that have it even worse.
    anigbrowl · 1790311948 · focus · HN ↗
    You are so full of it.
    <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/european-countries-work-regulations-heat-conditions-2026-06-24/" rel="nofollow">https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/european-countr...
    0xDEAFBEAD · 1790340405 · focus · HN ↗
    So why are so many Europeans dying?
    Also, these measures kinda look similar to what exists in Texas prisons without A/C...
  2. avianlyric · 1790271944 · focus · HN ↗
    Not entirely sure what European A/C regulations you’re referring to. Europe doesn’t have A/C because historically it’s not been needed, and when you have cities that are hundreds of years old, often filled with buildings that are designed to passively keep cool, it’s a right pain in the arse to retrofit everything.
    As a result Europe doesn’t culturally expect A/C every where, and has been slow to adopt it. But obviously climate change is forcing many to reconsider those cultural norms.
    Jtsummers · 1790272136 · focus · HN ↗
    They're trolling, and doing a poor job of it. Downvote, flag, or ignore. Don't feed them.
    0xDEAFBEAD · 1790273178 · focus · HN ↗
    >...In the Swiss canton of Geneva, installing an air conditioner requires an exceptional permit demonstrating “real need” (such as a doctor’s certificate). During the recent energy crisis, Spain and Italy barred public buildings from cooling below 27°C—hot enough to dull your cognitive powers by 5 percent. In the midst of the current deadly heat wave, my own city of Ghent is officially advising people to “avoid air-conditioners”.
    >The resistance is baked into European regulation. In many countries a conventional air conditioner lowers your building’s energy rating. The result is entirely predictable: owners and landlords decline to install units, or rip out the ones they have. Those left without built-in cooling fall back on drafty, inefficient portables that can scarcely make a dent in the temperature. I own one myself—a wheezing box with a fat hose shoved through a rickety fabric covering the window. It is the thermodynamic equivalent of mopping the floor with the tap running, but that’s simply the direction in which Europe’s regulations have nudged me.
    <a href="https://maartenboudry.substack.com/p/how-europe-became-the-world-champion" rel="nofollow">https://maartenboudry.substack.com/p/how-europe-became-the-w...

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