Arsenic or heat stroke? For Texas inmates, a tough choice

NAVASOTA, Texas —

A federal judge is ordering Texas prison officials to stop forcing inmates to drink water laced with dangerous levels of arsenic.

The cancer-causing chemical has been found in the water at one Texas prison for the past 10 years. Yet, according to the judge, state prison officials have done little or nothing to make the water safe.

Their attorney, Jeff Edwards of Austin, has filed several such lawsuits against the Texas Department of Criminal Justice over what he calls inhumane and deadly conditions.

“It’s in the Constitution – you do not have the right to treat someone in a cruel and unusual manner,” Edwards said. ”What’s unusual about exposing someone to period of extreme heat is that you can kill them.”