High Court Rejects Prisoner’s Bid to Escape Cigarette Smoke

The Supreme Court on Tuesday turned another cold shoulder to inmates seeking better prison conditions, this time rejecting a nonsmoker’s claim that his exposure to cigarette smoke is “cruel and unusual” punishment.

The court, by a 6-2 vote, set aside a ruling that would have cleared the way for a trial in a Nevada prisoner’s lawsuit over his exposure to secondary tobacco smoke.

The justices told the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to restudy its ruling in light of a decision last June in which the Supreme Court made it more difficult for prison inmates to force improvements in their living conditions.

The June ruling said inmates may not sue successfully over even inhumane living conditions unless they prove that the conditions were caused by officials’ “deliberate indifference.”

Tuesday’s action was a setback for William McKinney, who says secondary cigarette smoke inside the state prison at Carson City, Nev., is affecting his health.

In other cases, the court:

--Left intact a ruling that forces California courts generally to make public all questionnaires completed by prospective jurors in criminal cases.

--Let stand a Connecticut court’s ruling that police officers need a warrant to search closed containers that homeless people leave under bridges or in other public places where they live.

--Rejected an appeal seeking far greater monetary awards stemming from air disasters such as a 1988 terrorist bombing of a Pan American jet over Scotland and the 1986 hijacking of a Pan Am flight in Pakistan.

--Agreed to decide whether an Oklahoma businessman’s indictment may be thrown out because prosecutors withheld evidence suggesting he is innocent.

--Weighed victims’ rights against freedom of speech as it heard arguments over a New York law that, like laws in many other states, lets authorities seize the profits criminals make from publicizing their misdeeds. A decision is expected by July.

--Refused to order the federal Food and Drug Administration to approve or reject the marketing of generic drugs under deadlines imposed by Congress.