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Thursday, June 28, 2007

Ind. Decisions - Tippecanoe Court upholds ordinance banning smoking

Joe Gerrety of the Lafayette Journal & Courier reports:

West Lafayette's workplace smoking ban will go into effect on Sunday.

Judge Thomas Busch of Tippecanoe Superior Court 2 on Wednesday granted a motion for summary judgment in favor of the city and against two plaintiffs -- Harry's Chocolate Shop, a West Lafayette bar; and David Rollings, a bartender and manager at the Wabash Yacht Club.

The plaintiffs filed a lawsuit in March seeking a declaratory judgment and court order prohibiting the city from enforcing the ban.

"The desire of the plaintiffs to continue to operate as they have done in the past is understandable," Busch wrote in an eight-page order upholding the smoking ban.

"The city could have accommodated this interest by granting all bars the option of allowing or forbidding smoking. However, the City Council decided to draw the line in a different place. ... The plaintiffs' remedies are in the political process, not the courts." * * *

The plaintiffs alleged that the ordinance violates the equal privileges and immunities clause of the Indiana Constitution because it exempts certain businesses, giving those businesses and their employees privileges denied the plaintiffs.

The most controversial exemption built into the ordinance appears to affect only one business -- Hookah!, a restaurant in Chauncey Hill Mall a few doors down from the Wabash Yacht Club where the main attraction is flavored tobacco smoked through rented pipes.

Such "tobacco bars," defined as establishments that derive at least 25 percent of their revenue from the sale of tobacco products and the rental of smoking devices, are exempt from the ban.

The ILB is pleased to note that the J&C story includes a link to Judge Bursch's 8-page opinion, which the J&C has posted online - access it here.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on June 28, 2007 08:32 AM
Posted to Ind. Trial Ct. Decisions