Feeling the heat
Texas prisons
Regarding “Judge demands inmates get A/C” (Page A1, Thursday), it is gratifying to note that U.S. District Judge Keith P. Judge Ellison quoted the late Russian author, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, in demanding that Texas prison inmates not suffer needlessly in excessive summer heat. Many of Dostoyevsky’s famous works deal with criminal justice. His memorable saying: “The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons,” is just as applicable today as it ever was.
There is no question that society reserves the right to inveigh strongly against its criminals. There would be no societal credibility were things otherwise.
But, in our society, we have a constitutional prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. What constitutes “cruel” punishment is established by public consensus. “Unusual” punishment means penal sanctions not in accord with law.
Inmates have been sentenced to be incarcerated in appropriate institutions and participate in rehabilitation if they wish. They have not been sentenced to die or be seriously injured due to heat-sensitive medical conditions. Constitutional law forbids it. Having a heat stroke in a prison dormitory when it might have been prevented by some sort of air conditioning is therefore “unusual” punishment.
Nothing could be more ominous than that a society should strive to evade or disobey its own laws. The latter condition is usually called subterfuge, despotism or anarchy. It is definitely not the way of law abiding, rational citizens.
John L. Indo, Houston