Are Louisiana Prison Cells Too Hot For Inmates?
I have to admit that I probably lost any objectivity as I read the article posted by theadvocate.com, but it contained a quote that really caught in my craw.
The quote was from James LeBlanc, Secretary for the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections. LeBlanc was speaking on the extremely uncomfortable, high temperatures inside some Louisiana prison cells and the need for air conditioning for prisoners when he said, “Being in prison is punishment enough.”
Is It True That "Being In Prison Is Punishment Enough?"
Let that statement sink in for just a minute. Is "being in prison is punishment enough" what the teenage son of a man gunned down during a convenience store robbery wants to hear? His dad was his best friend, his mentor, his family's leader and he'll never see him again, but for the man who shot him, "being in prison is punishment enough."
Is "being in prison is punishment enough" what the mother of a three year old little girl savagely raped and permanently scarred wants to hear?
Am I being cynical? Probably so, but the "comfort" of Louisiana's most hardened criminals is the furthest thing from my "Give A Dang" radar as it could be. And I'd be willing to bet that anyone who's ever been the victim of a heinous crime would agree.
Are there innocent people incarcerated in Louisiana prisons, or maybe spending time behind bars due to a lack of competent counsel? I'm sure. The system isn't perfect, but is this flawed system about to spend taxpayer's dollars to make sure that prisoners aren't too uncomfortable?
Louisiana Could Spend Up To $60 Million To Air Condition Prison Cells
Apparently, the heat in these cells was one of the hot topics this past weekend when a number of Southern penitentiary leaders met in New Orleans and it was established that:
Eleven of the 13 states without air conditioning in all their prison living areas are in the South
Theadvocate.com reports that LeBlanc plans to address the lack of air conditioning in Louisiana prisons and use a $550,000 Capital Outlay appropriation from a recent legislative session to hire engineers to detail installation cost and how much additional funding will be needed to pay increased utility bills.
Some estimate that the total bill to air condition all living areas in Louisiana prisons somewhere between $28 million and $60 million.
That's our dollars. Taxpayer dollars.
While some of America's finest Veterans and our elderly are forced to cool off with a fan because they can't afford these high utility bills, Louisiana could possibly spend upwards of $60 million to air condition prisons because, "being in prison is punishment enough."