New York Court Orders State to Pay Inmate for Lost Cigarettes
A New York Court of Claims judge has ruled in favor of an incarcerated man, Nicholas Serrano, ordering the state to pay him $250 for 20 packs of Newport cigarettes that were lost by the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS). Serrano, while serving a sentence at Washington Correctional Facility in 2021, had a family member send him various items, including the cigarettes. Although records confirm the items arrived, Serrano opted to ship back everything except the cigarettes, which were to be held for him until he was transferred to a unit where nicotine was permitted. However, upon his transfer to Clinton Correctional Facility, the cigarettes were not among his belongings and were never returned to him. Judge Zainab Chaudhry determined that DOCCS was negligent in its duty to secure Serrano's personal property, acknowledging the state had no defense for the loss. 
