Below are excerpts from an article by Keri Blakinger, published by The Marshall Project.
Photo: Bob Owen / Houston Chronicle, via Associated Press
“Prisoners are defecating in paper bags and overflowing toilets, there aren’t enough extra blankets to go around, and mess hall kitchens are churning out half-rations of unidentifiable cold food.
“As a once-in-a-generation snowstorm walloped the Lone Star State this week and led to widespread power outages, prisoners and corrections officers agree: Already-dire conditions inside Texas prisons somehow got even worse.
“Officials said 33 prisons lost power and 20 had water shortages after the state’s electrical grid failed for several days during single-digit temperatures. Though the Texas Department of Criminal Justice said generators kept electricity on, staff, prisoners and their families reported frigid—and increasingly horrific—conditions around the system.
“The heaters aren’t working, there’s no showers, everybody’s locked in the cell,” said one prisoner, who asked not to be identified for fear of retaliation. Between buildings, he added, “They’re dumping table salt on the ice to thaw it out, trying to make the walkways passable.”
“At other units, prisoners with contraband phones sent pictures of their increasingly pitiful meals, including one that was nothing but a small piece of cornbread, a half a piece of cheese, a handful of raisins and a hot dog with no bun or ketchup.”
The full article can be found at themarshallproject.org.
