A nonsmoking prisoner at the Arizona State Prison in Florence, AZ, filed a civil rights action, seeking injunctive relief that the prison officials be required to offer him a smoke-free environment. Having been denied a transfer to a no-smoking cell, Hartline alleges that the defendants violated an internal Department of Corrections no-smoking policy and showed deliberate indifference to his health and safety, thereby subjecting him to cruel and unusual punishment, in violation of the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The district court granted summary judgment for the defendants. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, at 2000 U.S.App. LEXIS 2423 (U.S.C.A. 9th Cir. 2000), affirmed the dismissal “because there was no evidence defendants were deliberately indifferent to the plaintiff’s exposure [to ETS] prior to adopting a prison smoking policy.”
(U.S. Dist. Ct., Dist. of Ariz.) (1996).
