BOULDER, Colo. — Researchers at the University of Colorado say the state's prison system is failing to protect inmates from climate disasters. A new study released by CU Boulder claims the prison population is some of the most vulnerable.
"Nowhere is it written that you should be sentenced to choke on wildfire smoke," Ben Nevis Barron, a CU Boulder researcher, said. "I mean, that is well beyond cruel and unusual punishment."
Barron is part of the team that conducted the study. They interviewed 35 former inmates. Some had been out for years. Others, only a few months.
"Every single one of them reported problems with extreme heat or poor air quality or water quality," Barron said.
Thirty-seven percent of the participants said they experienced at least one wildfire while incarcerated. It impacted the air quality inside the facility.
One participant said, "There were times when we tried to plug the windows with trash bags to keep it – keep the particles from entering."
Another former inmate said, "There was like a little thin layer of ash on everything."
Shideh Dashti, Ph.D., focused on the infrastructure of the facilities. She told 9NEWS right now prisons don't protect inmates as much as they should, and they're only built to keep people in at all costs.
"It has made me question my entire profession and the way we train our engineers and their lack of familiarity with the implications of our work," she said. "I think this needs to be discussed in our code of ethics and how we get involved in planning a facility that doesn't work to benefit the well-being of its population and instead aims to just hold them in at all costs."
These researchers believe changes need to be made. Some of their recommendations include creating evacuation plans and updating existing infrastructure in response to extreme temps and poor air quality.
"This kind of treatment does not fit the crime regardless of one's point of view," Dashti said.
9NEWS reached out to the Colorado Department of Corrections for comment. They confirmed they got our request for a response, but we have not received one yet.
Researchers said they did the study with only former inmates because it was challenging to get any kind of access within the Department of Corrections.