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Action on Smoking and Health
A National Legal-Action Antismoking Organization Entirely Supported by Tax-Deductible Contributions
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Former NM Inmate Sues Prison Operators [08/15-2]
Excerpts from: Jailhouse Smoke Sparks Lawsuit
Albuquerque
Journal [08/05/03]
A former inmate at the Santa Fe County jail has filed a lawsuit claiming he
was subjected to "cruel and unusual punishment" when he was forced
to breathe the secondhand smoke of other prisoners' cigarettes.
The county jail's former manager, Cornell Corrections, is named as a defendant in the suit. A spokesman for Cornell said Monday he could not comment directly on the lawsuit because he hasn't seen it.
Ethan E. Roberts, who filed the suit last week in Santa Fe District Court, claims that because of his exposure to environmental tobacco smoke as an inmate at the county jail, "he has now lost a major portion of his lung capacity and can be expected to become fully disabled."
According to the lawsuit, inmates at the Santa Fe County jail, "smoke cigarettes in their cells and living areas in an unrestricted manner."
Santa Fe County Sheriff Greg Solano said in a recent interview that he would like the county to change the jail's smoking policy and make it a smoke-free facility, both for inmates and guards.Roberts says in his lawsuit that four days after his arrival at the Santa Fe jail, he has placed in a 10-by-8-foot cell with a prisoner who smoked about 15 cigarettes a day. Subsequent bunkmates included inmates who smoked a pack a day; three packs a day; and 12 to 15 days, respectively, according to the suit.
Roberts seeks $1 million in damages. According to the suit, he was able to quit his habit of one to five cigarettes once he was transferred out of the Santa Fe County jail June 8, 2000.
Santa Fe County Attorney Stephen Ross said Monday that it is his understanding that the county is considering making the jail a smoke- free facility.Greg Parrish, correctional services manager for the county, said Monday that an advisory committee is studying the issue of banning smoking at the jail but is not expected to make a recommendation to the County Commission on the issue until September.
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