On Wednesday, the Tzedek Association delivered the first in a series of air conditioning units to FCI Otisville, a medium-security federal correctional institution with an adjacent minimum-security satellite camp and detention center, located in Orange County, New York. The group plans to expand the initiative to additional facilities across the country.

The effort is the latest in a string of advocacy victories for Rabbi Moshe Margaretten, the group’s founder and president, who has spent more than a decade pressing the federal government on prison conditions and sentencing reform. Tzedek was among the organizations credited with helping push the First Step Act into law.

“For too long, many incarcerated individuals have suffered through unbearable heat conditions with little relief. We are thankful to work alongside leaders who understand that basic humanity and dignity must remain a priority,” Rabbi Moshe Margaretten told Belaaz.

The air conditioning donation comes as federal prisons face recurring scrutiny over summer heat conditions. Inmates in many facilities serve their sentences wearing 100 percent polyester uniforms that offer little relief in hot weather. With summer approaching, Tzedek argued that exposing incarcerated people to extreme heat in such conditions is a matter of basic human dignity.

The announcement comes amid what reform advocates describe as an unusually receptive moment inside the Bureau of Prisons. Last week, Rabbi Margaretten met in Washington with Deputy Director Joshua J. Smith and his team. Smith, who was sworn in last June, oversees 122 facilities and a workforce of 36,000, and is responsible for the care and custody of 156,000 federal inmates. He is the first formerly incarcerated person to serve at any level as a Bureau of Prisons employee — having been convicted in the late 1990s on drug conspiracy charges and later pardoned by President Trump.

Under the current BOP leadership, Tzedek said it has been advocating for expanded tablet access and video communication for inmates, significantly broadened furlough opportunities, and further implementation of the First Step Act.

Rabbi Margaretten also attended the White House’s Shabbat 250 celebration last week, a gathering honoring 250 years of American history, where he met with senior administration officials including Martin Marks, the White House Jewish Community Liaison.