LOUISIANA, USA — Imagine living in this excessive heat without any way to cool yourself down. Imagine working in this heat without air conditioning, or being forced to live in it of no fault of your own.
The Department of Corrections say the agency is planning to air condition all state prisons. Advocacy groups say state prisons should've already had A/C installed.
There are 3,861 people currently being held inside the Louisiana State Penitentiary, majority of them are living without air conditioning. As summer temperatures soar, the temperature inside Angola skyrockets.
According to the Innocence Project New Orleans, Louisiana has the highest incarceration rate and one of the highest rates of proven wrongful conviction in the country.
Formerly incarcerated Anthony Hingle Jr. sat down with Eyewitness News.
"Even though they're still incarcerated, they're still human," Hingle Jr said. "You also have innocent people in there that's suffering that's having to deal with the unbearable heat."
Department of Corrections reports no heat-related deaths this year or last.
Of the eight state prisons, Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women is the only state-run facility that's fully air-conditioned.
DOC said in part, "The remaining seven state-run facilities have air conditioning in their skilled nursing units, assisted living dorms, infirmaries, honor dorms, dining halls, educational facilities, visiting areas, canteens, chapels, and office buildings. Louisiana State Penitentiary has recently added air conditioning to four living facilities. The living facilities without air-conditioning have high-volume fans and cross ventilation to provide cooling. Extra fans have also been placed in some living facilities. The Department is in the study and planning stages to air-condition all of its state-run facilities."
Michael Cahoon with the Promise of Justice Initiative says he's gotten reports of temperatures inside Angola hitting 120 degrees.
"We have one client describe it as like sitting in your car with the windows up, but all the time," Cahoon said.
He said temperatures that high are simply dangerous for anyone to be exposed to, especially those with medical conditions.
"It's really important that we make sure that we're not putting people in our custody as a state in dangerous or life-threatening situations."
Hingle spent 31 years at Angola for second-degree murder.
"When I was incarcerated in Angola most of my time was done in the dormitory and the only thing I can do to bear the heat was go outside and get a hose pipe and hose the dorm down, the walls and the roof of the dorm hoping that would diminish the hot temperature," Hingle said.
In an interview with the Visiting Room Project, Hingle spoke about the impacts his actions had on his victim's family and his family.
Cahoon says those inside Angola, the wrongly accused, and the staff, are all subject to the stifling heat.
"Corrections officials and guards at Angola have to change uniforms sometimes two or three times a day," Cahoon said.
Hingle says those incarcerated do anything to keep cool.
"When you are able you may be walking around in your underwear, some people have to go as far as walking around in their cell naked," Hingle said.
He said the extreme heat pushes people to the inconsiderable.
"People will go as far as talking the cold water out of the commode because the water in the commode is actually colder in the commode than it is in the sink. They will take that cold water and splash it on the floor and sleep on the floor trying to stay cool."
Released in 2021, he just wants the state to consider those behind the walls of state prisons.
"I believe the state has enough money to supply some air conditioning," Hingle said.
DOC said, "The Department is planning to air-condition all of its prisons, and is awaiting the engineer’s report from a study that is examining how to climate control all of Louisiana’s state-run prisons. That report is expected in the very near future. The Department will use that report to base its request via the capital outlay process to move forward with the project. Climate controlling all of Louisiana’s state-run prisons is contingent on funding."
Hingle says his charge has since been amended to manslaughter.
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