Oklahoma Prison Conditions Lawsuit Gets Green Light

A federal appeals court has revived an Oklahoma prison inmate's lawsuit alleging conditions at a state prison violated his constitutional rights.

The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals handed down the ruling Tuesday in a lawsuit filed by 32-year-old Joseph Womble, who's serving an 11-year sentence for first-degree robbery.

Womble's lawsuit alleges temperatures in his cell at the Mack Alford Correctional Center in Stringtown exceeded 90 degrees 15 times in June 2016, causing him to become dehydrated. Womble also alleges that the ice machine and water fountain in his unit stopped working and that water from his cell sink was contaminated and made him sick.

A federal judge in Muskogee dismissed the lawsuit, but the appeals court reinstated it. Corrections spokesman Matt Elliott says the agency doesn't comment on pending litigation.