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Jail yard smoking ban to be appealed  

The Correctional Service of Canada will appeal a ruling making it legal to smoke outdoors at federal penitentiaries.

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Guards await fallout of smoking ban reversal  

The union representing prison guards says it will keep a close eye on what develops in the wake of a Quebec court ruling that lifted the total ban on smoking in federal prisons.

Last week, the Federal Court lifted the 17-month-old ban outlawing smoking outside federal prison buildings after a group of 19 inmates imprisoned in Quebec challenged the ban.

The prisoners stated in their claim that they had experienced assorted physical and psychological problems -- including increases in stress, anxiety, aggressiveness and nervousness -- as a result of the butt ban.

Before the ban, three of every four prisoners were smokers, Correctional Service of Canada statistics show.

"Essentially, from what I've read of (the decision), it will bring us to a situation that prevailed before May 2008, when the total tobacco ban was implemented, where inmates were allowed to have tobacco on their person, although they were supposed to consume it outside," said Union of Canadian Correctional Officers spokesman Lyle Stewart.

"The reality is, they smoked it wherever they felt like it."

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EDITORIAL: Turning smoking into a crime 

It's an odd world we live in: Ontario inmates now have more rights than truckers.

On Friday, Judge Luc Martineau of the Federal Court of Canada ruled that a May 2008 ban against all smoking in federal penitentiaries --even in designated outdoor areas -- went "too far." If civilians may smoke outside their office buildings, the logic goes, prisoners must be permitted to indulge their habit outside at prisons, too. According to Justice Martineau, inmates may be denied only those rights that are necessary to enforce their punishment, such as freedom of mobility. . . .

Every time a law like this gets passed, observers assume that it represents the final frontier of government intrusiveness. But then the years pass, and nanny-state advocates keep pressing the boundaries of regulations further. Already, the Ontario Non-Smokers' Rights Association is actually pressuring the provincial government to go further -- and rewrite the provincial building code to forbid smoking in all apartments and condominiums. And who knows? They may soon get their wish. After all, a generation ago, who would have thought that many Western restaurants and bars would be smoke-free in 2009?

If the trucker decides to fight his ticket --and we hope he does -- we are confident large sections of Ontario's smoke-free law will be struck down. It is simply not possible in a free and democratic society for the state to be so intimately involved in regulating personal choices, even dumb ones, such as smoking. Until then, we supposed smokers increasingly will have to consider committing an indictable offence in order to indulge their constitutionally protected rights.

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• Smoking ban in federal prisons lifted: Court 

MONTREAL - The Federal Court has ordered a recently imposed smoking ban outside of federal prison buildings must be lifted.

Nineteen Quebec inmates serving lengthy federal sentences argued this month that a complete smoking ban introduced in federal prisons in 2008 was a violation of their rights.

Prohibiting smoking violates prisoners' right to "life, liberty and security of the person" and constitutes "cruel and unusual treatment," the prisoners argued in their Federal Court action seeking to overturn the ban.

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Fears smoking bans could inflame tensions in overcrowded WA prisons  

Inmates at WA's maximum security Hakea Prison will be banned from smoking in their cells from Monday - prompting fears from prison officers it could further increase tensions in the State's overcrowded jails.

As part of the Department of Corrective Services' smoking reduction policy, inmates at Hakea will be banned from smoking in their cells during the day from next week, according to John Welch, secretary of the WA Prison Officers Union.

Mr Welch said while the union agreed that passive smoking in prisons was potentially harmful to his members, of more immediate concern was the effect a tobacco ban could have on the mood of already tense inmates.

"They will have to wait until they get outside of the units before they will be able to smoke again.

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• VIDEO: Quebec prisoners fighting smoking ban 

Nineteen Quebec inmates are fighting a smoking ban inside prisons, saying it infringes on their quality of life and threatens the safety of other inmates.

The federal prisoners, which include a number of high profile biker gang members as well as an infamous drug kingpin, say that the ban violates their charter rights.

"The sentence in a penitentiary or in a prison is in itself a terrible, terrible punishment that is hard to bear and is very difficult for a person to go through, and there's no reason to make it worse," said prominent Montreal human rights lawyer Julius Grey, who helped the inmates launch their lawsuit Wednesday.

They say the smoking ban makes them stressed, angry and aggressive, and that if all prisoners are not allowed to smoke, it could make life dangerous for everyone inside. . . .

The prisoners who launched the suit include notorious drug trafficker Gerald Matticks, biker gang member Benoit Guimond, and Daniel Patry, who killed well-loved children's TV puppeteer Pierre Regimbald.

Federal prisons banned smoking inside and outside while on prison property in 2008. . . .

The union that represents 6,000 prison guards says tensions have decreased since the ban was put into place.

"In the year and a half since the tobacco has been in place we have not seen one single incident that can be attributed to the ban on tobacco," said Lyle Stewart of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers.

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Federal inmates fight smoking ban 

A group of inmates is challenging a ban on smoking inside and on the property of federal prisons that was implemented in May 2008.

The case is scheduled to go before a Federal Court judge on Wednesday.

Dale Tremblay, who was a pack-a-day smoker before Corrections Canada banned smoking at the Sainte-Anne-des-Plaines institution, north of Montreal, says the ban is unfair.

"You were jonesing after your meals, you always had to do something to get your mind off it," said Tremblay, who was released in August after serving an eight-year sentence. . . .

While inmates at provincial jails in Quebec can still smoke outside the building, smoking is not permitted on the property of federal institutions.

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• Notorious inmates to challenge prison smoking ban 

MONTREAL — Nineteen inmates serving lengthy federal sentences — a who’s who of notorious Quebec killers and gangsters — will argue in court this coming week that a complete smoking ban introduced in federal prisons last year tramples their rights.

Prohibiting smoking violates prisoners’ right to “life, liberty and security of the person” and constitutes “cruel and unusual treatment,” the prisoners argue in a Federal Court action seeking to overturn the ban.

The Correctional Service of Canada decided to outlaw all smoking after discovering that a partial ban, which allowed smoking only outdoors, was being flouted. It is estimated that about three-quarters of federal inmates were smokers before the ban.

“The decision to implement a total smoking ban by (Correctional Service of Canada) management was made to protect the health and safety of staff and offenders,” agency spokeswoman Marilyne Guevremont said, declining further comment because the case is before the courts.

The plaintiffs, who had been smoking an average of two packs a day, include Gerald Matticks, the drug-trafficking leader of Montreal’s West End Gang, Benoit Guimond, a biker who shot a teenager outside a Montreal nightclub, and Daniel Patry, who murdered the puppeteer behind a popular Quebec children’s show. Many of them are serving life sentences for murder, but take away their cigarettes and they become trembling, nervous wrecks, court documents suggest.

“The prisoners have experienced various physical and psychological symptoms related to nicotine deprivation, notably: an increase in stress, in anxiety, in their aggressiveness, in their nervousness,” the action says.

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Ex-Botetourt inmate claims abuse in suit  

A former inmate at the Botetourt Correctional Center claims in a newly filed federal lawsuit that he was tormented by a guard with an alcohol problem and an inventive streak of sadism.

But the guard, now retired, denies it -- and says the prisoner was the one with the drinking problem.

In a lawsuit filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Roanoke, Thomas W. Jackson said that during a year at Camp 25, as the correctional center is sometimes called, Officer Michael Fletcher carried out a program of harassment and torture. It included such things as putting a habanero pepper on Jackson's cut lip, mixing manure into his chewing tobacco, beatings and electric shocks to Jackson's genitals, the complaint claimed. . . .

Fletcher, now retired and living in Scott County, said Tuesday that while he had not yet seen the lawsuit, Jackson's story was wrong.

He recalled two things about the former prisoner: his difficulties with alcohol and love for chewing tobacco.

"He was willing to pick up chewing tobacco that visitors left on the ground and put it in his mouth," Fletcher said.

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OHIO ex rel. MARTIN v. COLLINS 

D E C I S I O N

Rendered on September 24, 2009 . . .

Relator, Robert Martin ("relator"), an inmate incarcerated at the London Correctional Institution, commenced this original action requesting this court to issue a writ of mandamus ordering respondent, Terry Collins, Director of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction ("respondent"), to permit relator and fellow inmates incarcerated prior to March 1, 2009, the right to smoke and use tobacco products while incarcerated. . . .

Pursuant to Civ.R. 53 and Section (M), Loc.R. 12 of the Tenth Appellate District, this matter was referred to a magistrate who considered the action on its merits and issued a decision, including findings of fact and conclusions of law, which is appended hereto. The magistrate recommended dismissal of relator's complaint. First, the magistrate concluded that R.C. 3794.01 through 3794.04 do not grant relator a clear legal right to smoke and determined that respondent is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. . . .

M A G I S T R A T E ' S D E C I S I O N

Rendered on May 21, 2009 . . .

As respondent states in its motion, there is no clear legal right to smoke and relator has misconstrued the Smoke Free Workplace Act in an attempt to assert such a right. Further, relator's reliance on Ohio Adm.Code 5120-9-33, which deals with the right to possess certain items of personal property, is also misconstrued and has no relevance whatsoever to the use of tobacco products. After viewing the complaint and the allegations and reasonable inferences therefrom in the light most favorable to relator, the nonmoving party, it is this magistrate's conclusion that respondent is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.

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MAYFIELD ALLEN KIPER v. NEVADA STATE PRISON OFFICIALS; et al. (PDF) 

This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent

The panel unanimously finds this case suitable for decision without ** oral argument.

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Northpoint prison's smoking policy more relaxed  

The medium-security Kentucky prison that was set on fire in August during an inmate riot had a more relaxed smoking policy than some others in Kentucky, including four public prisons that have banned smoking.

The Northpoint Training Center in Burgin not only allowed smoking in designated outdoor areas but also let prisoners keep matches with them.

Smoking was banned there temporarily after the riot, which left several buildings beyond repair and forced the relocation of about 700 of the 1,200 inmates. Inmates are allowed to have cigarettes again but must ask guards to light them.

That is also the policy for the special management population at the Kentucky State Penitentiary in Eddyville, where smoking is allowed under state lawkeep matches.

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BERNARD MADOFF IS SUFFERING FROM CANCER IN NORTH CAROLINA PRISON 

Bernie Madoff had little to lose by confessing to masterminding the world's biggest Ponzi scheme -- he's dying of cancer, sources told The Post.

Madoff, who is serving 150 years at a North Carolina federal lockup after pleading guilty to swindling more than $65 billion, has been telling fellow inmates he does not have much longer to live. . . .

Meanwhile, a bare-chested Bernie has been killing time at the prison participating in Native American religious purification ceremonies held at an on-grounds "sweat lodge," other sources said.

He accepted invitations from Native American inmates to join them at their weekly prayer services. The ceremonies involve praying, using heated rocks to induce sweat and smoking from a ceremonial pipe.

It is unclear whether the 71-year-old Madoff checked out the ceremony because of health reasons. For centuries, Native Americans have used sweat lodges to help detoxify the body mentally, spiritually and physically.

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Smoking ban lifted at site of prison riot  

A state official says a smoking ban has been lifted at a Kentucky prison that was the site of a fiery riot last week, but inmates are no longer allowed to keep matches or lighters with them.

Jennifer Brislin of the Justice Cabinet says the ban was lifted this week at Northpoint Training Center in Burgin. Smoking had been banned there since the Aug. 21 riot in which inmates set fire to several buildings, many of them possibly beyond repair.

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Smoking ban imposed after Ky. prison riot  

A top state public safety official said he found some buildings nearly gutted, with windows shattered, computer equipment and light fixtures slammed against walls and toilets destroyed, when he inspected a central Kentucky prison Monday in the aftermath of a riot.

Justice and Public Safety Secretary J. Michael Brown said the damage at the Northpoint Training Center is so severe, he expects several buildings will have to be torn down and rebuilt.

"While it may look like the walls are standing, I'm not an engineer, but I understand just the heat from that can cause structural cracks," Brown said. "I believe most of (the buildings) will have to be razed, and we'll have to start from scratch."

Officials banned smoking — at least temporarily — after the Friday riot and were forced to relocate more than half of the facility's 1,200 prisoners. . . .

He said the prison had allowed smoking — including matches — in designated outdoor areas, but that policy was lifted after several fires were set Friday during the riot. Many Kentucky prisons were going to a smoking ban anyway, Brown said.

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