JLUSA leader Maggie Luna on “being cooked alive” in Texas prisons
by JLUSA
June 30, 2023
“In Texas’ state jails, the inmates are sentenced to just two years or less. But every summer, former inmate Maggie Luna [Leading With Conviction™ 2021 graduate] remembers, the women inside worried their short sentences may take their life.
“‘All of these women that were suffering with me had not a lot of time, and they feared that they were getting death sentences,’ she said. ‘Several times I told my mom, I hope I make it out of here.’
“Her jail is one of the 70% of units within the Texas Department of Criminal Justice that do not have full air conditioning. As much of Texas braces through record-setting triple-digit temperatures, current and former inmates are describing dangerous and disturbing conditions inside their cells.
“‘It is suffocating. It’s terrifying just to feel like you’re cooking. I remember asking my bunkie, Do you think our brains are frying?’ Luna said.”