"1993 Supreme Court decision: Exposure to secondhand smoke constitutes cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the 8th Amendment."
SMOKING:
Current News and Research
Interview with Inmate 1997 – 1/12/19
This I/M (inmate) arrived at Perryville in November of 1997. She was 52 years old at the time, and had never smoked.
The AZDOC was always lax about enforcing the no-smoking in the room policy, but in the 90’s apparently it was non-existent. Her roommates smoke in the room with her. additionally, the cells are connected by ducts, so she got hit with smoke from others too, sort of like a gas chamber from which there is no escape.
In 2003 she started to notice she was short of breath. Then, in 2005 she was hospitalized for a “light” heart attack. This was when the doctors first diagnosed C.O.P.D from smoking. Of course, she told them she had never smoked in her life, but that she was continually subjected to second-hand smoke at the prison.
After I/M 1997 returned to Perryville her “provider” changed the diagnosis from C.O.P.D. to asthma! The prison doctors kept telling her to stop smoking, despite her insistence that she never smoked.
In 2006,, 2007, and 2008 this I/M was sent to hospital for various heart problems. Finally she was sent off-site to a pulmonary specialist, and her returned a verdict of C.O.P.D. due to second-hand smoke!
In December of 2018 she was informed that she has heart failure and her condition continues to deteriorate.
Prison Tobacco Bans Reduce Smoking-related Deaths
Originally published on AUG. 2, 2016 published in Prison Legal News August, 2016, page 40
“Tobacco use and secondhand smoke kill over 480,000 people in the United States annually. The mortality rate of smokers is three times higher than those who have never smoked, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and smoking reduces an average smoker’s life expectancy by 10 years compared to non-smokers. While the exact numbers aren’t known, numerous prisoners die every year due to smoking-related ailments such as cancer, stroke, heart disease and chronic lung disease.” …. read the full article here: https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2016/aug/2/prison-tobacco-bans-reduce-smoking-related-deaths/
Exposure to Secondary Smoke Can State Claim
Originally published in Prison Legal News September, 1993, page 1
Donald McKinney was a Nevada state prisoner who filed a civil rights complaint against prison officials, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, claiming that his involuntary exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) from his cellmate’s and other inmates’ cigarettes posed an unreasonable risk to his health, thus subjecting him to cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the eighth amendment…. read more here: https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/1993/sep/15/exposure-to-secondary-smoke-can-state-claim/
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