Herron and Sweatt v. Campbell, et al.

Plaintiffs had brought a civil rights action about prison conditions; Sweatt also alleged that the defendants, several Tennessee correctional officials, violated his Eighth Amendment rights by housing him with other inmates who smoke.  The district court dismissing the entire civil rights action.  On appeal, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit concluded that the district court had properly dismissed part of the lawsuit dealing with retaliatory transfer claims.  However, the court of appeals ruled that “Sweatt’s Eighth Amendment claim is not frivolous . . . . Sweatt clearly alleged in the complaint that the defendants were deliberately indifferent to his medical conditions by subjecting him to secondhand smoke . . . ”  Therefore, the court remanded that claim back to the district court for further consideration.

(U.S.C.A. 6th Cir. 1999), 1999 U.S. App. LEXIS 297734.