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| Prisoner Gets Cash for Bunking with Smoker |
| By Reuters |
| Published: 01/21/2002 |
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The Canadian government has paid $1,600 in compensation to a nonsmoking prisoner forced to share a cell with a smoker, officials say. William Canning, 44, took the government to court in late 1999, complaining that he was exposed to second-hand smoke while serving part of his 22-year sentence at La Macaza, a federal prison in Quebec. He said his rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights were violated because he was exposed to 'cruel and unusual punishment.'' The government dismissed Canning's contention, stating that ''the plaintiff suffered no damages from having been bunked with a smoker without his consent for a total period of 17 days.'' But the government later abandoned the court case and granted Canning compensation. A spokeswoman for the Correctional Service of Canada said Monday the federal prison system allows inmates to smoke in their prison cells and this policy would not change. 'To take away smoking just like that when you are incarcerated is a bit tricky,'' said Michele Pilon-Santilli. Pilon-Santilli said Canning was 'double-bunked,'' a common practice when federal prisons are tight for space. In more normal circumstances, Canning would have had a cell of his own, she said. |
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