Inmate suit over 'brick oven' heat at Miami-Dade prison now a class action

Grethel Aguila, Miami Herald on Nov 12, 2026

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MIAMI — Dozens, and possibly hundreds, of inmates could now join a federal lawsuit alleging that extreme temperatures at Dade Correctional Institution, a state prison in South Miami-Dade, are putting them at “substantial risk of serious harm.”

U.S. District Court Judge Kathleen Williams allowed the case to expand into a class action lawsuit in October. The ruling allows three classes to continue pursuing the suit: members of the general population incarcerated at the prison, inmates with medical conditions that leave them susceptible to the heat, and inmates with disabilities.

On Thursday, attorney Adrian Felix told the Miami Herald the ruling will force prison officials to “answer for the conditions at Dade CI as a whole rather than one complaint at a time.”

“We have argued from the start that the dangerous heat inside the Dade Correctional Institution dormitories is not an isolated problem affecting a few people,” said Felix, who is a partner at Bilzin Sumberg. “It is a facility-wide condition that puts every person incarcerated there at substantial risk of bodily harm.”

The court case began on Oct. 31, 2024, when inmates Dwayne Wilson, Tyrone Harris and Gary Wheeler sued the prison, the warden and the Florida Department of Corrections over the heat and lack of ventilation at the facility. Bilzin Sumberg is working alongside Florida Justice Institute and Udelsman Law PLLC for the lawsuit.

The conditions at the prison, the lawsuit alleges, violate federal laws and the Constitution, including the prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. All three men have since been transferred from the prison, which is located south of Florida City.

The heat at the facility is so severe that Derek Peete, an inmate once held at the facility, compared being in a cell to “being in a brick oven because the heat is just blasting all the time,” according to court records. Peete was released from prison this March, Florida Department of Corrections records say.

Through the suit, the inmates are asking the court to order that prison officials “take immediate action to abate the substantial risk serious harm faced by everyone incarcerated at Dade CI.” The prison only has air conditioning in the infirmary and in a mental health unit.

The “extreme conditions cause heat exhaustion and heat stroke, and exacerbate serious medical conditions, putting everyone at risk of serious medical complications, including heart attacks, strokes, and death,” the incarcerated men’s attorneys said in the complaint.

The Florida Department of Corrections did not respond to the Miami Herald’s request for comment.

In a 44-page order, the judge details evidence presented during a hearing about the inmates’ claims. As a result of the litigation, the inmates suing were allowed to install temperature sensors in dormitories at Dade Correctional Institution. The Florida Department of Corrections does not keep record of temperatures at its facilities.

The sensors uncovered that the median heat index at the facility was 98.3 degrees — and the max was 119.4 degrees, the order states. Heat index measures what the temperature feels like to the human body, according to the National Weather Service.

Forecasters urge the public to be cautious when the heat index is in the range of 90 to 103 degrees because of the possibility of heat stroke and heat exhaustion, the order states. The National Weather Service considers a heat index of 103 to 124 dangerous, with increased possibility of heat exhaustion and heat stroke.

The heat index inside the prison exceeded the conditions outside about 80% of the time, according to the order. During the hearing, experts called by the inmates testified that the heat could be contributing to sickness and deaths at the facility.

The inmates’ attorneys also introduced 21 declarations from other men incarcerated at the prison. Several of the inmates described how the poor ventilation makes it difficult to sleep at night — and makes “everyone angrier and more anxious.” Others also said they “sweat profusely” and get heat rashes that leave them feeling like they are “on top of a bed of fire ants.”

One inmate said the sweltering temperatures have pushed him to take drastic measures: pouring toilet water on his body to try to cool down, according to the order.

“Even when I go in front of a fan, I feel that I am just getting hot air blown into my face,” said Marc Silvis, who remains in Dade Correctional Institution. “It feels like we are getting cooked in a convection oven.”

The Florida Department of Corrections argued that the case could not proceed as a class action because the inmates at the facility have a wide variety of medical conditions. The judge, however, disagreed.