From the AP:

[T]he corrections department and attorney general's office have accrued at least $1,067,000 in expenses fighting the 3-year-old lawsuit filed on behalf of three inmates with medical problems. A list of expenses incurred by the prison itself adds up to more than $100,000, including an April 2014 payment of nearly $29,000 to a firm that was monitoring the heat and humidity every 15 minutes. A plaintiffs' expert has estimated it would cost about $225,000 — not including engineering fees or operating costs — to install air conditioning on death row's six tiers, which house dozens of inmates. In 2014, an engineer hired by the state said nine air-conditioning units could adequately cool all eight tiers in the 10-year-old building that houses death row. An attorney for the state has said each unit would cost "several thousand dollars."

The money has been primarily spent on private attorneys, and some expert witnesses and contractors have also been paid tens of thousands of dollars.

While the state has not released its estimates to the public, even they seem to believe they are spending even more on litigation than it would cost to fix the problem. U.S. District Judge Brian Jackson, who is overseeing the case, said that "The state itself indicated that they could install mechanical air, fix this problem, end this case, for about -- what was it? About a million dollars." From the AP:

Judge Jackson said the bill is "stunning," given the painful cuts lawmakers are making to balance the state budget. He wondered out loud whether the state's refusal to give up the fight is based on prison management concerns, politics or ideology. "Is this really what the state wants to do?" he asked. "It just seems so unnecessary." Jackson is scheduled to hear testimony Wednesday on whether the state's current heat remediation measures — one cold shower a day, ice chests in their cells and fans outside — are adequately protecting the plaintiffs as Louisiana's sweltering summer approaches.

One of the poorest states won't fund constitutionally mandated public defense, spends all its money on prisons, and is facing a terrifying budget deficit. But sure, spend $1 million dollars on this. Okay.