State Ex Rel. White v. Parsons

ALBRIGHT, Justice:

On June 3, 1996, an absolute ban against the possession or use of tobacco by inmates was put into effect at the South Central Regional Jail, located at Charleston, West Virginia, under the authority of legislative rules promulgated by the Jail and Correctional Facility Standards Commission. The petitioner, Judson White, was a pretrial detainee at the jail, who petitioned this Court 1 pro se for relief from the tobacco ban. This Court granted a rule to show cause why a writ of prohibition should not issue and appointed counsel to represent petitioner. After hearing oral…