Limitations regarding the use of quotes
The quotes provided here reflect statements from a specific decision. Accordingly, the International Legal Consortium (ILC) cannot guarantee that an appellate court has not reversed a lower court decision which may influence the applicability or influence of a given quote. All quotes have been selected based on the subjective evaluations undertaken by the ILC meaning that quotes provided here may not accurately or comprehensively represent a given court’s opinion or conclusion, as such quotes may have originally appeared alongside other negative opinions or accompanying facts. Further, some quotes are derived from unofficial English translations, which may alter their original meaning. We emphasize the need to review the original decision and related decisions before authoritatively relying on quotes. Using quotes provided here should not be construed as legal advice and is not intended to be a substitute for legal counsel on any subject matter in any jurisdiction. Please see the full limitations at https://www.tobaccocontrollaws.org/about.
The plaintiff, a prison inmate, complained that prison smoking policies regularly caused him to suffer exposure to environmental tobacco smoke in violation of his constitutional right against cruel and unusual punishment. A lower court found in favor of the plaintiff but dismissed the charge as against several of the defendants based on an interpretation of official immunities. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit considered that granting such immunities was not permissible where the conditions complained of violated contemporary standards of decency. After concluding that exposure to environmental tobacco smoke created a risk so grave that no individual should be unwillingly exposed to it, the Court affirmed the lower court's decision in favor of the plaintiff. The Court also reversed the lower court's dismissal of the claim as against the particular defendants and returned the case to the lower court for further proceedings.