Florida accused of ‘deliberate indifference’ to inmates in sweltering heat at Miami-Dade prison, lawsuit says

TALHAASSEE – The state is accused of ‘deliberate indifference’. A federal lawsuit filed Thursday claims the sweltering heat at a Miami-Dade County jail unconstitutionally violates inmate rights and amounts to “cruel and dangerous conditions of detention.”

The Florida Justice Institute filed the lawsuit, which seeks certification as a class action, against the state Department of Corrections on behalf of inmates at Dade Correctional Institution in Homestead.

The lawsuit, filed in the federal Southern District of Florida, accuses corrections officials in part of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act and other federal laws by failing to make “reasonable accommodations” for elderly and sick inmates.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs pointed to data of rising temperatures in the Miami area.

“Temperature and heat index records are being broken every year at an alarming rate,” the lawyers wrote, adding that there is “broad scientific consensus” that the warming trend will continue.

The prison is designated as a facility for people with disabilities, and more than half of the inmates are over 50 years old, the lawsuit said. Officials have refused to record temperatures at the prison, which can hold up to 1,500 inmates, according to the lawsuit.

The 63-page lawsuit alleges that “dangerous heat” in non-air-conditioned prison dormitories is exacerbated by “unventilated, polluted air” and inadequate access to cool water.

Prisoners have resorted to building “air tunnels” out of “cardboard, plastic or whatever material” to place over small windows or vents in their cells, but the air tunnels are considered contraband and are confiscated by guards .

“The heat is sweltering and the people locked there sweat profusely, even right after showering. The ventilation system barely moves the air and people struggle to breathe. It’s like being locked in a parked car in the tropical heat this afternoon,” the spokesperson said. lawsuit said.

The plaintiffs are asking the court, in part, to order corrections officials to “develop and implement a plan that remediates and reduces plaintiffs’ serious risk” of heat-related harm.