Source: Associated Press
The first modern air conditioner was invented by Willis Haviland Carrier in 1902, yet here we are in 2022 and more than 15,000 prison beds across North Carolina are still located in unairconditioned rooms, according to the Associated Press and WRAL-TV.
To make matters worse, this is a problem that state prison officials and the North Carolina General Assembly have been aware of for quite some time.
In fact, the General Assembly approved $30 million last fall to address the lack of air conditioning in North Carolina’s prison system.
Summer is just a few weeks away and temperatures have already reached the upper 80s and low 90s in parts of the state. No work to fix the lack of air conditioning has even begun at any prison in the state.
According to the AP, state prison officials “hope to have the first three projects complete around the start of next year.” That means it will be another summer with temperatures topping 100 degrees inside some of the state’s prisons.
It’s not clear if officials have addressed if being forced to live in sweltering heat with no relief available is considered cruel and unusual punishment or not.
To read more on the project and to see which prisons will get relief first, click here.
