Pro se plaintiffs who are either current or former inmates of the Bedford Hills
Correctional Facility in New York brought an action against eight employees in their individual capacities.  Plaintiffs allege that the Defendants were deliberately indifferent to serious health risks caused by exposure to secondhand smoke. In the summer of 2009, plaintiffs have made numerous complaints about secondhand smoke and inadequate enforcement of the indoor smoking ban.  The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled that the plaintiffs “have not proffered any scientific evidence to indicate that the level of ETS to which they have been exposed is unreasonable under the Helling standard in the context of general health risks.”  The Court also ruled that, while efforts to enforce the smoking ban have been imperfect, the plaintiffs failed to provide evidence of deliberate indifference by any of the Defendants.  Thus, the Court granted the Defendants’ motion for summary judgment.  2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 107555 (U.S.D.C.  S.D. N.Y. 2013).