The Supreme Court clarified the current state law and overruled the antismoking legislation that had been adopted in June 2001 by the Lucas County Board of Health in Toledo. The statute called for an all-inclusive smoking ban; however, the ban was challenged by Arnie's Eating and Drinking Saloon in Toledo, and U.S. District Judge David Katz suspended the ban until the Supreme Court could deliberate on it.
The Supreme Court called the ideals of the antismoking measures well intentioned, but asserted that state law does not allow local health departments to overrule the legislature, which had already determined that bars and restaurants are exempted from the state’s ban on smoking in most public buildings.
Bar owner Arnie Elzey said of the victory, "We've thought all along an unelected board shouldn't be able to enforce such stringent rules. It was not just about smoking."
Just like the recent but separate antismoking legislation proposed in New York City and neighboring Nassau County, Long Island, the health board in Toledo was determined to halt smoking in all restaurants, taverns, bowling alleys and all public places of employment to protect workers from secondhand smoke.
(Thu Sep 12, 2002 - 1:03:09 am)
