Thursday, September 26, 2024
As a formerly incarcerated individual and volunteer for the Lioness Justice Impacted Women’s Alliance, Ashley Mooney was one of many who stood in solidarity amid the fight for air conditioning in Texas prisons.
The Lioness group, families of incarcerated individuals, and other advocacy organizations gathered at the Coryell County Courthouse on Saturday, Aug. 3 for a candlelight vigil to honor and remember those who have lost their lives due to scorching temperatures in prison units.
“I went to the vigil because, although I was in an air-conditioned unit, that’s super rare,” Mooney said. “And I have met mothers, fathers, cousins, and daughters that have had people who have been incarcerated that have suffered from this. And it breaks my heart not just for the people who are in there, but for the families outside who can do nothing.”
The vigil included speeches from formerly incarcerated members who were housed in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice units in Gatesville, as well as other support groups who helped sponsor the event.
“I fully expected it to be just a little mini rally with Lioness, and I saw family members there, people I’ve never met coming out supporting the cause as well and just remembering the people who lost their lives. It was an amazing feeling,” Mooney said.
Texas Rep. Carl O. Sherman also spoke at the vigil and shared his concerns about the current conditions within the Texas prison system.
“People are dying in our prisons, and you know that, but we’ve got to make sure we do not stop advocating for the women and men that are in our prisons that are dying,” Sherman said.
The vigil comes in wake of a lawsuit filed against TDCJ in April, claiming that heat conditions within Texas prisons are a cruel and unusual punishment. Lioness and several other advocacy groups are asking the U.S. District Court in Austin to declare TDCJ’s current heat-mitigation policy unconstitutional and require that prisons maintain a temperature between 65- and 85-degrees Fahrenheit inside its housing and occupied areas.
“Texas prisoners are being cooked to death,” the complaint reads. “Last summer alone, many people died and hundreds more suffered serious heat-related illnesses because of the sweltering temperatures in Texas’s prisons.”
According to a report by the Associated Press, Tuesday, July 30 began a multi-day hearing on the lawsuit. Inmate advocacy groups, including those from Lioness, took to the stand to describe the conditions within the prisons, saying that temperatures can reach above 120 degrees Fahrenheit.
Marci Simmons, community outreach coordinator for Lioness, provided an update on the lawsuit during the vigil. Because lawsuits often last several years, she said the group’s attorneys have asked the judge for a temporary order, or a preliminary injunction, that will allow current inmates to receive relief from heat conditions within prison until the courts make a final decision on the case.
“The injunction is asking the judge to get relief now, because people are losing their lives this summer. It cannot wait years,” Simmons said.
However, it is still unknown if or when the judge will grant the order, Simmons adds.
“When we’re coming together collectively and sending out these prayers and energy into the world, I want to make sure that is heavy in our thoughts,” Simmons said.
At the vigil, attendees also held a moment of silence for those who have suffered in Gatesville’s past involving youth correctional facilities, including at the Gatesville State School for Boys. Its cemetery, located on the outskirts of the TDCJ property, holds the remains of several young boys ranging from 10 to 20 years old.
“The City of Gatesville and its people are so much more than the youth injustice that was born here, and the injustices that happen in the prisons still located in Gatesville,” Lioness member Jennifer Toon said at the vigil.
The Lioness Justice Impacted Women’s Alliance aims to end the devaluation and mistreatment of incarcerated women and girls in the Texas criminal legal system.
“It feels like we’re moving forward,” Mooney said. “And I think every time we do something to bring awareness to this situation, we move just one step forward.”
