By: Kunjal Bastola

edited by: Alexandra Dickerman and Alexandria Nagy

Prison ecology is a term used to describe the living conditions of prisoners as it relates to environmental and health issues. Many prisons are built on contaminated sites or landfills, creating detrimental living conditions for the inmates. Nearby contaminated sites often pollute the air and water of prisons, degrade sanitation levels, and expose inmates to harmful waste. Environmental justice already impacts low-income and Black, Indigenous, people of color (BIPOC) communities at a disproportionate rate, but in prisons, the effects are even more disastrous.[1] Because the current environment of prisons cultivates such a harmful environment for their inmates, the urgency of addressing prison ecology increases expediently with the worsening of environmental issues.

A post published on the Prison Policy Initiative website in 2022 highlights, “one-third (32%) of state and federal prisons are located within 3 miles of federal Superfund sites, the most serious contaminated places requiring extensive cleanup.”[2] Additionally, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, a Superfund gives EPA the money and authority to clean up contaminated sites, highlighting the extent to which many of the sites that prisons sit on are considered to be the most contaminated places. [3] Essentially, the proximity of these prisons with contaminated waste sites exacerbates environmental justice effects for incarcerated people.

Due to the government’s inaction surrounding this issue, prisoners have begun to protest their conditions. In 2018, lawyers from the Abolitionist Law Center filed a lawsuit against the Federal Bureau of Prisons on behalf of 21 federal prisoners across the country arguing against the proposed construction of a federal prison in Letcher Counter, Kentucky built on top of a former coal mine.[4] In 2022, another lawsuit was filed against the State of Alabama on behalf of prisoners at two Alabama prisons alleging that the state, along with the U.S. Department of Treasury, did not follow proper environmental processes, as outlined in the National Environmental Policy Act, before building two 4,000 bed “mega-prison” sites.[5] These are only a few of the issues regarding the hazardous living conditions of inmates that were brought to light through prisoner activism.

With a lack of agency over their surroundings, prisoners are thrust into harmful environmental situations, which some argue constitutes “cruel and unusual punishment” as written in the Eighth Amendment.[6] The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), an organization that works to expand civil liberties, highlighted a few hazardous conditions, and cases that were tried, in which courts have found that the Eighth Amendment was violated in prisons, including the following: [7]

Defective plumbing (Jackson v. Duckworth, 955 F.2d 21, 22 (7th Cir. 1992)) [8]
Denial of adequate toilet facilities (Gates v. Cook, 376 F.3d 323, 340-41 (5th Cir. 2004))[9]
Deprivation of basic sanitation (Gillis v. Litscher, 468 F.3d 488, 493 (7th Cir. 2006))[10]
Lack of drinkable water (Hearns v. Terhune, 413 F.3d 1036, 1042-43 (9th Cir. 2005))[11]
Exposure to human waste (Gates v. Cook, 376 F.3d 323, 340-41 (5th Cir. 2004))[12]

The ACLU also notes instances in which courts decided that some of the above conditions in prisons did not constitute a violation of the Eighth Amendment. For instance, in Knop v. Johnson 977 F.2d 996, 1013 (6th Cir. 1992), the 6th Circuit ruled that the occasional use of non-flushable toilets did not violate the Eighth Amendment.[13] Also, in Lunsford v. Bennett, 17 F.3d 1574, 1580 (7th Cir. 1994), the 7th Circuit found that a 24-hour delay in providing requested hygiene supplies similarly did not violate the Amendment.[14]

With environmental issues at stake all over the world, it is important to address those communities facing harmful environmental conditions. In prisons, living conditions for inmates reflect the dangers of neglecting a hazardous environment contributing to the detrimental lifestyles of a large population. As the government takes action to mitigate the adverse effects of environmental issues, it is important they also work to address those effects in prisons.

Notes:

“Investigation Reveals Environmental Dangers in America’s Toxic Prisons,” Equal Justice Initiative, July 16, 2017, Accessed December 13, 2023, https://eji.org/news/investigation-reveals-environmental-dangers-in-toxic-prisons/#:~:text=Nearly%20600%20federal%20and%20state,mile%20from%20the%20toxic%20site.
Leah Wang, “Prisons Are a Daily Environmental Injustice,” Prison Policy Initiative, April 20, 2022, Accessed December 13, 2023, https://www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2022/04/20/environmental_injustice/.
“Investigation Reveals Environmental Dangers in America’s Toxic Prisons,” Equal Justice Initiative, July 16, 2017, Accessed December 13, 2023, https://eji.org/news/investigation-reveals-environmental-dangers-in-toxic-prisons/#:~:text=Nearly%20600%20federal%20and%20state,mile%20from%20the%20toxic%20site.
“What is Superfund?” Accessed December 13, 2023, https://www.epa.gov/superfund/what-superfund.
Panagioti Tsolkas, “Prisoners File Unprecedented Environmental Lawsuit against Proposed Federal Prison in Kentucky,” Nation Inside, December 7, 2018, Accessed December 13, 2023, https://nationinside.org/campaign/prison-ecology-project/posts/prisoners-file-unprecedented-environmental-lawsuit-against-proposed-federal-prison-in-kentucky/.
Panagioti Tsolkas, “Alabama Prisoner File NEPA Lawsuit against New Prison Construction,” Nation Inside, July 11, 2022, Accessed December 13, 2023, https://nationinside.org/campaign/prison-ecology-project/posts/alabama-prisoner-file-nepa-lawsuit-against-new-prison-construction/.
“Know your rights: environmental hazards and toxic materials,” ACLU of Idaho, Accessed December 14, 2023, https://www.acluidaho.org/sites/default/files/wpsite/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/kyr_environmental_hazards_updated_apr10.pdf.
“Know your rights: environmental hazards and toxic materials,” ACLU of Idaho, Accessed December 14, 2023, https://www.acluidaho.org/sites/default/files/wpsite/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/kyr_environmental_hazards_updated_apr10.pdf.
Jackson v. Duckworth, 955 F.2d 21, 22 (7th Cir. 1992).
Gates v. Cook, 376 F.3d 323, 340-41 (5th Cir. 2004).
Gillis v. Litscher, 468 F.3d 488, 493 (7th Cir. 2006).
Hearns v. Terhune, 413 F.3d 1036, 1042-43 (9th Cir. 2005).
Gates v. Cook, 376 F.3d 323, 340-41 (5th Cir. 2004).
Knop v. Johnson 977 F.2d 996, 1013 (6th Cir. 1992).
Lunsford v. Bennett, 17 F.3d 1574, 1580 (7th Cir. 1994).

Bibliography:

“Investigation Reveals Environmental Dangers in America’s Toxic Prisons.” Equal Justice Initiative. July 16, 2017. Accessed December 13, 2023. https://eji.org/news/investigation-reveals-environmental-dangers-in-toxic-prisons/#:~:text=Nearly%20600%20federal%20and%20state,mile%20from%20the%20toxic%20site.

“Know your rights: environmental hazards and toxic materials.” ACLU of Idaho. Accessed December 14, 2023. https://www.acluidaho.org/sites/default/files/wpsite/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/kyr_environmental_hazards_updated_apr10.pdf.

Leah Wang. “Prisons Are a Daily Environmental Injustice.” Prison Policy Initiative. April 20, 2022. Accessed December 13, 2023. https://www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2022/04/20/environmental_injustice/.

Panagioti Tsolkas. “Alabama Prisoner File NEPA Lawsuit against New Prison Construction.” Nation Inside. July 11, 2022. Accessed December 13, 2023. https://nationinside.org/campaign/prison-ecology-project/posts/alabama-prisoner-file-nepa-lawsuit-against-new-prison-construction/.

Panagioti Tsolkas. “Prisoners File Unprecedented Environmental Lawsuit against Proposed Federal Prison in Kentucky.” Nation Inside. December 7, 2018. Accessed December 13, 2023. https://nationinside.org/campaign/prison-ecology-project/posts/prisoners-file-unprecedented-environmental-lawsuit-against-proposed-federal-prison-in-kentucky/.

“What is Superfund?” Accessed December 13, 2023. https://www.epa.gov/superfund/what-superfund.