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 plaintiffs, New York state prison inmates, brought an action against officials of the New York State Department of Correctional Services, claiming that their exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) caused them long-term health risks in violation of the their freedom from cruel and unusual punishment under the Constitution and that defendants failed to enforce the smoking prohibitions already in place in the facility and to promulgate further tobacco control measures. The defendants claimed immunity from the suit. The Court found that the defendants should have known that exposure to high levels of ETS represented an unreasonable risk to the plaintiffs' health. Finally, the Court found that the defendants' qualified immunity did not apply and affirmed the district court's order denying their motion to dismiss.