“I was in prison, and you came to visit me.” — Matthew 25:36

The Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. You’d think that would settle the question of whether a person should be left to endure 100-degree heat in a locked dormitory with no air conditioning, no airflow, and no escape. But in Florida, the state argues that this kind of heat doesn’t rise to the level of cruelty. It’s just part of the sentence.

That was the argument made by state attorneys defending conditions at Dade Correctional Institution, a Miami-Dade prison that houses more than 1,500 men — many elderly or medically fragile. A federal lawsuit details unrelenting heat, broken fans, and failed ventilation systems. Since 2021, at least four men have died from heat-related causes at

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