A victory built on care and persistence in Texas prisons
For years, people incarcerated in Texas prisons sent letters to Lioness Justice Impacted Women’s Alliance describing what it was like to live through extreme heat. The women behind Lioness listened, kept those accounts and made sure they became part of the case for change.
Now, the organization is celebrating a major court victory. A federal judge has ordered the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to install air conditioning in all its prisons by December 31, 2029. Texas plans to appeal, and the work is far from finished. But for Lioness and its partners, the ruling recognizes the people who have been asking to be heard.
Founded in 2022 by formerly incarcerated women, Lioness works to improve health, safety and well-being for people in Texas prisons and jails and for those returning to their communities. Its small staff has built a network of roughly 500 members, about 400 of whom are incarcerated. Members on the inside help guide the organization’s advocacy.
That connection shaped the lawsuit. Diane Thompson, Lioness’ director of member relations, recorded details from letters about prison heat in a spreadsheet and preserved the letters themselves. U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman referred to them repeatedly in his order.
Lioness joined the federal case in 2024 alongside Texas Prisons Community Advocates and Texas Citizens United for Rehabilitation of Errants. The case had begun the previous year on behalf of Bernie Tiede, who argued that prison heat had harmed his health. Pitman’s ruling concluded that the extreme conditions violate the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. He noted that about 88,697 people were in Texas prison units without air conditioning as summer 2026 approached.
For the advocates, those numbers represent people whose experiences they know personally. Marci Marie Simmons, Lioness’ communications director, spent a decade in a Texas prison. She recalled lying in her bunk during the heat and wondering whether she would survive. Today, she is celebrating while preparing for the next stage of the effort.
Researchers say the stakes extend across physical and mental health. University of Houston sociologist Carlee Purdum has heard incarcerated people describe heat illness, fainting, seizures and rashes, as well as the distress of being unable to cool themselves or help someone nearby. Her work with women from Lioness also raised concerns about enduring extreme heat during pregnancy and menopause. Wanda Bertram of the Prison Policy Initiative noted that medications and conditions such as diabetes and heart disease can increase vulnerability to heat.
The ruling gives Texas until the end of 2029 to complete the installations and requires progress reports to the court every six months. Until then, many incarcerated people will still have limited control over access to water and cooler spaces.
Purdum has also witnessed the ways women look after one another in those conditions: checking on older people and those with health concerns, and making sure they have water. She called their actions “extraordinary examples of care.”
That same spirit runs through Lioness’ work. Its members turned letters into evidence, solidarity into sustained advocacy and a long fight into a meaningful step toward safer prisons.
