“You feel like you going to die:” The Intersection of Mass Incarceration and Climate Disasters

• In Event: Health Criminology Panel: Social-Ecological Consequences of Criminal Legal System Involvement for Health

Abstract

The experience of incarceration is increasingly harmful for health due to climate hazards and the lack of policies in place to protect people who are incarcerated from flooding, wildfires, hurricanes, and extreme temperatures. Yet, these overlapping crises have received limited attention. We assessed how climate hazards affect those with criminal legal involvement in Houston, Texas, an area repeatedly impacted by climate events. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 18 individuals accessing syringe exchange services and analyzed them using an inductive approach. All participants had direct experience with climate disasters, most while incarcerated. Disasters often forced multiple people into small cells without power or potable water. Facility infrastructure only worsened these experiences due to them being partially underground and lacking adequate temperature control. Disasters also delayed releases and affected transfers to other facilities, contributing to high levels of uncertainty. Individuals were also disproportionately impacted while not incarcerated due to being unhoused, not being able to afford to evacuate, and disrupting work. Overall, disasters imposed another form of trauma on individuals already living in stressful, unpredictable environments. Work at the intersection of the criminal legal system and health must consider how the climate crisis affects this relationship.

Author

• Katherine LeMasters, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus