Smoking Ban Is OKd for Texas Prison System
Some of the 95,000 inmates in the Texas penal system may be doing a slow burn after authorities decided Friday to ban smoking in the state’s prisons.
The unanimous vote by the Texas Board of Criminal Justice followed two hours of debate over issues including whether to allow Death Row inmates a last cigarette before their executions and whether the smoking ban would spark riots.
“We’re not operating the Ritz-Carlton,” said board member Allan Polunsky.
The board’s decision taking the butts out of America’s second largest prison system takes effect March 1. The new policy also covers prison employees, including guards.
Texas Board of Criminal Justice spokesman Larry Todd said he anticipates inmate lawsuits challenging the ban.
He said there have been no problems at a small prison facility in Huntsville, 90 miles north of Houston, that opened this year as a smoke-free facility.
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