09/29/2026
A group of formerly incarcerated women in Texas just won a years-long fight that will change the lives of the nearly 90,000 people held in the state's prisons without air conditioning. This week, a federal judge ruled that Texas must install air conditioning in all of its prisons by the end of 2029, finding that the state's punishing heat -- where cell temperatures often climb past 120 degrees in the summer -- amounts to cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment. The women who drove the case belong to the Lioness Justice Impacted Women's Alliance, and they took on -- and beat -- the largest prison system in the country.
Inside the prisons, the punishing heat can turn into a fight for survival. Cells of concrete and steel have been recorded as hot as 136 degrees; to endure them, people soak their sheets in toilet water and sleep on the floor. The state provides what it calls "cool beds" for only about 37 percent of those in its custody, and the heat is deadliest for the most vulnerable: people with chronic illnesses, those on medications that turn dangerous in extreme temperatures, pregnant women, elderly women, and a growing population of women enduring menopause in the swelter. During a single 2023 heat wave, at least 41 incarcerated people died.
For the families of those who died, the ruling was the answer to years of grief. Tona Southards Naranjo, pictured here, lost her 37-year-old son, Jon, in a Texas prison in 2023; when she saw his body, she has said, it was covered in a heat rash from his head to the backs of his knees. She had turned him in herself, believing he would be rehabilitated and come home.
"He did come home a different young man," she told the state's prison board through her tears. "A dead one." For years afterward, she testified again and again for the change that came this week. "I am so thankful that relief is coming," she wrote after the ruling, addressing her late son. "I hope you're watching from above, knowing that you're still making a difference from the grave."
The Lionesses know that searing heat firsthand. Founded in 2022 by women who had served time themselves, the group runs on a tiny staff, all formerly incarcerated, and a network of some 500 members -- 400 of them still inside. Marci Marie Simmons, one of its leaders, spent a decade in a Texas prison.
"I remember laying in my bunk," she said, "and thinking, 'I don't know if I will survive this.'" They chose their name with intention. "Lionesses stick together; they stay together," Simmons said. "It's that same tenacity and loyalty... that's what makes us capable of taking on, frankly, the largest prison system in the country."
What won the case was the voices of the incarcerated themselves. For years, letters had poured into the Lioness mailbox from people inside, documenting the heat's toll. Diane Thompson logged each one in a spreadsheet and saved the letters in a folder, and Judge Robert Pitman cited them again and again in his 150-page order. "We include our incarcerated members in our decision-making. They lead our advocacy work," Simmons said. "That is what got us to the finish line."
Even in the heat, the women looked after one another -- checking on the elderly and the sick, carrying water to those who couldn't get their own. "These kinds of extraordinary examples of care," said Carlee Purdum, an associate professor of sociology at the University of Houston who studied the women. "We have a lot to learn from them."
Texas has until the end of 2029 to comply, must report to the court every six months, and has said it will appeal -- so the fight is not yet over. "We've been laughing and crying and celebrating," Simmons said, "and also, you know, preparing, because we know that this is just one step in the fight."
What carried the Lionesses this far, said Purdum, was never in doubt. "It was always about the people that they still had on the inside, and they never stopped fighting for them. That was extraordinary to just witness."
--> To learn more about the Lioness Justice Impacted Women's Alliance and how to support their work for incarcerated women and their communities, visit https://www.lionessjiwa.org/
For several powerful books about girls with an incarcerated parent, we recommend “The Same Stuff as Stars” for ages 10 and up (https://www.amightygirl.com/the-same-stuff-as-stars), "Ruby on the Outside" for ages 9 to 12 (https://www.amightygirl.com/ruby-on-the-outside), and “The Paris Project” for ages 9 to 12 (https://www.amightygirl.com/the-paris-project)
For books to inspire kids to make a difference in the world -- both locally and globally -- visit our blog post “Making an Impact: 40 Mighty Girl Books About Charity and Community Service” at https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=10983
For books for children and teens about people helping others in their communities experiencing hardship, visit our blog post "Cultivating Compassion: 20 Books About Financial Hardship Close to Home" at https://www.amightygirl.com/blog/?p=10049
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To read more about their victory in The 19th News, visit https://19thnews.org/2026/09/women-advocated-air-conditioning-texas-prisons/
