Texas charges prisoners 50% more for water as heat wave continues

[WhiskeyGrinder]

https://www.tpr.org/criminal-justice/2023-07-20/texas-charges-prisoners-50-more-for-water-for-as-heat-wave-continues

The price of bottled water went up 50% in prison commissaries across Texas last month. The controversial move has two state agencies pointing the finger at each other as inmates struggle to endure an entrenched and deadly heatwave in facilities without air conditioning.

The state raised the price from $4.80 per case (24 bottles) to $7.20 per case on June 27. Commissary vendor Royal Pacific Tea Company requested to raise the prices in March even though it contract was incomplete. The prices were negotiated by the state comptroller's office and appear to be approved by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

About two-thirds of Texas prisons lack air conditioning, and 271 deaths between 2001-2019 may have been caused by extreme heat days, according to a 2022 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Inmates and their families are bearing the burden of the price increase at a dangerous time — with heat in Texas prisons regularly in excess of what would be considered “safe” levels in county jails. No similar restriction on temperature exists for state prisons, and internal temperatures in June were largely above the 90s with some facilities over 100 degrees.

[walkingman]

1. Let's call them what they are ---Nazis

[GreenWave]

8. + infinity!

[Mariana]

2. The story says the prisoners have access to tap water.

[NowISeetheLight]

3. I Wonder

I wonder how safe it is. Has anyone tested it?

[Mariana]

5. It's almost certainly the same tap water the residents of the area use.

[NowISeetheLight]

6. Given

It's an older article. Being Texas though I don't have faith anything has changed

https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2015/aug/31/texas-poisoning-prisoners-contaminated-water/

[WhiskeyGrinder]

4. Oh if you read that far then you probably saw the part where the prisoners say the water is full of

sediment and also stinks.

[NowISeetheLight]

7. Why I Asked

That was my guess. Texas doesn't exactly have a great reputation for infrastructure and prisons.

[Ms. Toad]

9. Did you read the descriptions of the tap water?

I didn't see any contradiction to the inmates description of the tap water as filled with rust and crud, resembling sewage, and smelling rancid.

My initial thought was the same as yours - what's wrong with tap water? The story answered that question. Prisoners should have free access to drinkable water, whether it comes from a bottle or the tap.

[Solly Mack]

10. K&R

[dalton99a]

11. Texas has a $32.7 billion budget surplus.