NEW ORLEANS, June 11 (UPI) -- Three death row inmates at the Louisiana State Penitentiary have filed a federal court lawsuit over the high temperatures and humidity inside the facility.
The suit charges conditions the prisoners suffer each summer violate the cruel and unusual punishment clause of the Constitution's Eighth Amendment, The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune reported Tuesday.
According to the lawsuit, the heat index on death row reached 195 degrees on more than one occasion in the summer of 2011. Last summer, the index was above 125 degrees on 85 days between May and August.
"We don't expect prison to be comfortable, but anyone who looked at these numbers or heard about the conditions would find them shocking, beyond what's conscionable," said Nilay Vora of the Los Angeles-based firm of Bird Marella.
Defendants named in the suit are the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections, its secretary, the prison warden and death row warden.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of death row inmates Elzie Ball, Nathaniel Code and James Magee by the Promise of Justice Initiative.
