Federal judge upholds Colorado's statewide smoking ban

[MonteSano]

A federal judge on Friday upheld Colorado's statewide smoking ban, rejecting arguments that it violates the constitutional rights of bar owners.

The bar owners had filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn the ban, arguing it unfairly applied to them while exempting casinos and airport smoking lounges. U.S. District Court Judge Lewis T. Babcock ruled they had not shown the exemptions were irrational or unfair.

A state attorney praised the ruling, saying it recognized the right of the Legislature to pass constitutional laws, whether or not individuals or groups agreed with the policies they enforced.

The plaintiff's attorney said the ruling failed to recognize the ban treats similar groups differently. He said no decision had been made on an appeal.



http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CO_SMOKING_BAN_COOL-?SITE=VARIT&SECTION=US&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2006-10-20-16-52-26

[DavidDvorkin]

1. I was surprised by that ruling

It does seem to me that the law has a constitutional problem because of those exemptions.