This past weekend the London Times reported that the United Kingdom's Home Office (which is something of a combination of the US Departments of Justice and Homeland Security) agreed to pay 198 heroin-addicted convicts £5,000 each (about $9000) because the UK Prisons Service forced them to go "cold-turkey" in prison. The prisoners sued the British government for trespass, arguing that they had not consented to the "treatment" of being deprived of the drug. They also sued for breaches of the European Convention on Human Rights, which prohibits discrimination, torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
The Home Office agreed to the £1 million payout after agency lawyers warned that the government was likely to lose the lawsuits.
See "Inmates win 'cold turkey' payouts".
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