In September, officials at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility locked down parts of the prison during a brutal heat wave. Several incarcerated people said staff restricted their access to ice water and cooler areas as a result, even as their cells became dangerously hot.
Now, state prison officials have released data confirming that temperatures spiked indoors at the prison amid the lockdowns.
KPBS obtained the data through a public records request to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). The department oversees the state prison system and is legally required to keep logs of temperatures at each facility — although state inspectors have found CDCR isn’t consistently doing so…