UW-Madison Capstone students will host a press conference this afternoon at 2 p.m. at the City-County Building in downtown Madison to shine a spotlight on the growing crisis of heat vulnerability in prisons across the state.
“As global temperatures rise, the impacts of extreme heat on vulnerable populations – including those incarcerated in Wisconsin’s prisons – have become an urgent public health and social justice issue,” the UW Capstone students said in a press release announcing the press conference. “The issue of heat-related fatalities in Wisconsin’s prisons has reached alarming levels, with overcrowding and inadequate heat mitigation measures contributing to a growing public safety crisis. The press conference will provide important information on how rising temperatures are affecting incarcerated individuals, the need for systemic change, and the ongoing efforts to advocate for those who are most at risk.”
The event will feature two expert speakers: Mark Rice, coordinator of the Wisconsin Transformational Justice Campaign at WISDOM, and Shar-Ron Buie, associate director of JustDane. They will address critical issues such as public health impacts, overcrowding, and the broader criminal justice concerns surrounding the failure to protect incarcerated individuals from extreme heat. Speakers will also share powerful insights from their own lived experiences, bringing a personal perspective to the discussion.
The City-County Building is located at 210 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
