UNION COUNTY, Tennessee — Vickie Bondy used to be a nurse. She's now retired from her job but there's one job she'll never retire from—being a mother.
Bondy's son has been serving time in the Union County Jail because she said he violated his parole. She said her son has around three weeks left on his sentence, but the jail's conditions are making it hard to survive.
Bondy's son explained to his mother there was no water in the jail despite the hot temperatures.
As a former nurse, Bondy knows that hot conditions can be dangerous.
Bondy reached out to the WBIR because of the jail conditions and in an attempt to help her son and everyone else in the jail.
"There's no air conditioning in this heat that we've seen in the last few weeks," Bondy said. "I told my son, wear your clothes and you drench yourself, I said have everyone in your cell do that I said if you want to stay alive through this you do that."
According to the constitution, the Eighth Amendment says you cannot inflict cruel and inhumane punishment.
Don Bosch, a legal analyst for WBIR, explains what this means when you're incarcerated.
"The question becomes, 'At what temperature, so to speak, does it become cruel and inhuman and in violation with the Eighth Amendment?'" Bosch said. "Some of our jails are very old and do not have air conditioning and they get very warm. I've been to jails where the inside temperature is approaching 100 degrees."
Bondy's son said getting medical attention from the jail nurse and getting fresh air and water can be hard. In June, he called Bondy and told her he felt very sick and had been bitten.
"I told him that he got bitten by a brown recluse," Bondy said.
Bondy said he received antibiotics and felt better.
In March 2023, a 24-year-old died while in custody. His autopsy showed a large amount of meth in his system and a clear bag in his rectum.
WBIR reached out to the Union County Sheriff's Office but hasn't heard back yet.
WBIR is also waiting to get the most recent jail inspection reports from the state.