Helling v. McKinney


Helling v. McKinney,, was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that imprisoned people do not need to be actively experiencing injuries from their confinement conditions before challenging them as cruel and unusual punishment.

Description

In this case, an imprisoned person alleged that prison officials had acted with "deliberate indifference" to the potential negative health effects of environmental tobacco smoke by allowing smoking in the prison. The court decided in his favor, saying he had stated a valid claim under the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The court rejected the argument by the prison officials that the "deliberate indifference" standard, which the Court had originally articulated in Estelle v. Gamble, only applied to the current health needs of prisoners, rather than risks to their future health.