In May 1988, the Weld County Board of County Commissioners passed a resolution prohibiting smoking in all public buildings, including the county jail.  Inmates of that jail claimed that such a ban violated their Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment rights.  The court ruled that there is no constitutional right to smoke in jail or prison, that there are several legitimate governmental interests in adopting a ban on smoking in the jail, among them the health of nonsmoking inmates and guards, the elimination of potential fire hazards and the provision of a clean living environment.  The court also found that the defendants could be potentially liable if they did not remove the health risk that smoking poses to nonsmokers in the jail.

731 F. Supp. 423, 4.7 TPLR 2.95, No. 88-F-1160, (D. Colo. 1989).