Nonsmoking prisoners filed a civil action for injunctive and monetary relief under 42 U.S.C. sec. 1983, alleging that “their Eighth Amendment right to be free of cruel and unusual punishment is violated by defendants’ failure to remedy an almost constant exposure to high levels of environmental tobacco smoke in the institution.”  Defendants filed for summary judgment.  The court (Crabb, J.) denied the motion for summary judgment, saying that the plaintiffs “have adduced evidence to demonstrate that they experience medical symptoms that are aggravated by their exposure to high levels of environmental tobacco smoke . . . and that regular exposure to smoke increases the risk of lung cancer, coronary artery disease and asthma.  Accordingly, I find that plaintiffs have established the existence of a dispute over the objective element of their Eighth Amendment claim.”

4 F. 3d 997, 1993 U.S. App. LEXIS 29785, No. 93-C-060-C (U.S.D.C. W.D. Wis. 1994).