Underfunded, overcrowded: Woman dies in US prison during heatwave

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: The Guardian
10 Jul 2024 10:02

A woman has died at a California facility where temperatures soared to 110°F, with residents pleading for relief as they lacked air conditioning.

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Central California Women's Facility (CCWF), a female-only California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation state prison located in Chowchilla, California (Creative Common)

A person incarcerated at California’s largest women’s prison has died during an intense heatwave, which left residents without air conditioning pleading for relief and warning of serious health risks.

The death occurred at the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla, located in the Central Valley, where temperatures soared above 110°F (43.3°C) on Saturday.

According to the California Coalition for Women Prisoners (CCWP), an advocacy group, the death appears to be attributable to heat-related causes that could have been prevented. The woman’s daughter told the Sacramento Bee that her mother had been complaining about the physical toll of the summer weather for years.

Mary Xjimenez, a spokesperson for the state corrections department, stated via email that the woman was transferred to a medical facility on Thursday and passed away on Saturday. Xjimenez claimed that the cause of death seems related to a pre-existing medical condition rather than heat-related issues, pending confirmation by the coroner's office.

Tyson Pogue, the local sheriff-coroner, said it is premature to conclude if heat was a factor and confirmed that an autopsy would be conducted by his office.

Why it matters

As news of the death surfaced, over 146 million Americans were under extreme heat alerts nationwide, highlighting the heightened vulnerability of incarcerated individuals in aging prison facilities without air conditioning. Reports have highlighted potentially life-threatening conditions in jails and prisons during this year's heatwaves, spanning California, Nevada, Illinois, Texas, Florida, and other states.

The fatality at Chowchilla has exacerbated fear and distress among advocates and incarcerated residents. The overcrowded facility, housing more than 2,000 people, lacks air conditioning in cells, and residents have voiced concerns about inadequate supplies of cold water and other essentials that could mitigate their suffering and reduce the risk of heat-related illnesses.

“Please help us, they’re not doing anything for us,” Trancita Ponce, a Chowchilla resident, pleaded in a statement shared by CCWP. “There is hot air blowing inside of our rooms, I have a huge migraine and I feel sick and other girls are throwing up.”

“I’ve seen people passing out. This is inhumane … You feel like you’re dirt, like you’re nothing. If we were animals, they’d be treating us better,” another CCWF resident told The Guardian.

“My friend said: ‘Help us, we can’t breathe,’” Nomura, who was previously held at Chowchilla, said as quoted by The Guardian. “I’ve had heatstroke before [while incarcerated] and I know what it feels like to be so dehydrated that you can’t see. They are sitting in a room, toasting in what feels like an oven. They’re all suffering.”

The tragic death at the Central California Women’s Facility amid a severe heatwave is not an isolated incident within the broader landscape of US prisons.

Across the country, many correctional facilities are marked by chronic underfunding and overcrowding, conditions exacerbated by reported cases of deaths due to alleged negligence.

Incarcerated individuals, particularly vulnerable during extreme weather conditions like heatwaves, often endure inadequate cooling systems and limited access to essential resources such as cold water, exacerbating health risks. These incidents underscore ongoing concerns about the treatment and conditions of those within the US prison system, prompting calls for systemic reforms that have yet to be addressed by the US government.