Why Should Delaware Care?
James T. Vaughn Correctional Center is the state’s largest correctional facility. It is also more than 50 years old, and parts of it are without certain modern-day amenities, such as air conditioning, potentially putting inmates at a health risk during this week’s heatwave.
As Delaware’s fiercest heat wave in several years continues to send real-feel temperatures into the triple digits, lawmakers are considering sending $2 million to the state Department of Correction to install air conditioning within the cell blocks of a state prison building that houses about 300 people.
Rep. Larry Lambert (D-Claymont) told Spotlight Delaware that the appropriation has been included within the state’s bond bill, which lawmakers are drafting this week. A spokeswoman for Gov. Matt Meyer also confirmed that the $2 million will be in the bill.
The development comes as hundreds of inmates within Building W at the James T. Vaughn Correctional Center remain without air conditioning while outside heat indexes exceed 100 degrees.
“I have the smallest fan possible blowing on me and I’m sweating profusely,” Vaughn prison inmate Joshua Chattin told Spotlight Delaware on Tuesday.
In response to the “treacherously hot” conditions, Chattin said prison officials directed inmates to sign documents confirming they were given an option to move out of their sweltering cells and into a building known to inmates for holding maximum security units – or as Chattin described it, “the hole.”
Department of Corrections spokesman Jason Miller confirmed that inmates were directed to sign documents acknowledging an offer of temporary relocation, but stressed that those who accepted the offer weren’t moved to maximum security units.
“Inmates who are being moved temporarily are being relocated to a multi-classification housing area with double occupancy cells,” Miller said.
Lambert, the state representative, said he investigated conditions at the prison during a visit on Monday, after hearing concerns from members of the public. In conversations with staff and about 10 inmates, he said learned that few prisoners in Building W have moved to new cells during the heatwave.
“I was told that they’re given the opportunity for sleeping quarters that are air conditioned, however not a lot of them took up that offer,” he said.
Chattin also said he has reached out to several elected officials in recent days, including Wilmington City Councilwoman Shané Darby, who took to Facebook on Monday and Tuesday to assert that conditions at Building W are inhumane.
In a post, she said the Department of Correction claimed inmates had access to cold showers, but that people she talked to in the prison laughed off the notion.
“Human beings are locked inside, baking in extreme temperatures with no relief,” Darby wrote in her post. “This is cruel and inhumane.”
In response to the claim, Miller said prison maintenance crews have “adjusted the water temperature so that the outflow runs colder.”
Separately, the Delaware Department of Correction said in a Facebook post Monday that it places large fans on housing tiers without air conditioning units and gives prisoners unlimited access to ice and cold water, additional cool showers, and allows them to purchase personal fans.
Built in 1971 near Smyrna, Vaughn Correctional Center is the state’s largest prison and currently houses about 2,500 people, according to the Department of Correction. Building W is one of several at the complex.
The National Weather Service forecasted the heat index in Smyrna to be 104 degrees fahrenheit on Tuesday and Wednesday. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, people run the risk of heat-related illnesses when exposed to extreme heat inside or outside.
In a press release issued on Friday, Delaware health officials outlined general tips to avoid heat-related illnesses during the heatwave.
At the top of the list, officials recommend that people “find an air-conditioned place, if possible, to help keep your body temperature at the right level.”
