Navigation Inmate-plaintiffs allege heat, humidity threat at Dade Correctional Institution violates their rights
Several inmates at Dade Correctional Institution south of Miami have filed a federal class-action lawsuit against the Florida Department of Corrections (FDC), alleging that prison officials have failed to protect older, infirm inmates from record-breaking heat and humidity.
Three inmates in their 50s and 60s, two with hypertension and one with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), are the plaintiffs in the lawsuit filed in the Southern District of Florida on Oct. 31. The complaint alleges the Department of Corrections has put inmates at risk of heat-related illness due to a lack of air conditioning and a ventilation system that’s in disrepair.
“Such deliberate indifference to the dangers of extreme heat and unventilated air violates plaintiffs’ rights under the Eighth Amendment, the Americans With Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act,” the lawsuit states. ”Plaintiffs respectfully ask the court to declare their conditions of confinement unconstitutional and order defendants to protect the lives and health of the people it incarcerates.”
