Posted on 05/15/2007 5:35:05 PM PDT by GOP_Lady
Judge Extends Smoking Ban in VFWs
Without settling the question of whether smoking ultimately will be allowed in veterans halls and other private clubs, a Franklin County judge extended a temporary ban yesterday by one week.
Judge David E. Cain of Franklin County Common Pleas Court will rule on a bid by a trade association of bars and restaurants to keep Veterans of Foreign Wars posts and other private clubs from allowing members to light up.
The Ohio Licensed Beverage Association, the group that opposed the smoking ban passed by voters in November, asked Cain for a full trial to settle the question. The Ohio Department of Health, which wrote the rules excluding private clubs from the indoor smoking ban, wants Cain to rule more quickly.
Further complicating matters, the American Cancer Society is waging a separate legal battle -- in the same court but with a different judge -- to make the smoking ban apply to Ohio's 1,500 private clubs. The cancer society asked Cain to merge its case with the beverage association's; Cain did not rule on that yesterday.
"We bring a certain perspective to this since we wrote the law," said the cancer society's attorney, Don McTigue.
Health Department spokesman Jay Carey said that while the cancer society fashioned last year's successful ballot initiative, it fell to the state agency to hash out specific rules.
"We believe (excluding private clubs) was the will of the voters," Carey said.
While Cain weighs both arguments, veterans halls and other private clubs must order patrons to extinguish their cigarettes for at least the next week. Cain could make a permanent ruling on whether the ban applies to private clubs, but lawyers on both sides said yesterday that they expect the judge to issue a narrower ruling.
Ping!
VFWs are private. That judge has no Constitutional standing, but then, this country ditched the Constitution a long time ago.
The title you made up: “OHIO — STILL NO SMOKING FOR VETS IN VFW HALLS” was not the title at the source and had to be changed.
Please do not alter titles.
More abuse of the law.
Your are right, most of these folks (all vets, all wars), have dodged more bullets than sunbeams and if they want to smoke in a social setting, that should be their right! Especially in a non-public setting. If you dont smoke, or are afraid of secondhand smoke, dont visit your local vets club.
This judge has no problem overstepping his constitutional authority; but then again why should he? Everyone else in his profession is doing it.
Consentio
What part of PRIVATE does the government not understand?
I’ve donated more to the ACS than to any other organization... They’ll never see another dime from me.
Just make sure you tell them that!
If the Nanny State wants to stop NONmembers from smoking at a VFW, I might agree. Let the Members ask for an ashtray.
But respect our Veterans!!
These veterans may opt to defend their country one last time.
I don’t know if it was used in this case, but in other ones, the legal angle was that private clubs still cannot expose their employees to secondhand smoke.
The way around that is for clubs to not have “employees”, but instead to have “shareholders”, rewarded for work in shares redeemable for money. The club owner retains 51% of shares.
Interestingly, this can be more profitable for both clubs and their “shareholders.” This is because the club can act almost like a bank with the shares, paying better interest than any bank, in the form of dividends.
So if the shareholders have any extra money, they leave it in the club instead of cashing in their shares and putting it in the bank. In turn, the club can invest the value of those shares in high-yield investments.
This means that the club has a big pool of liquid assets that can be used for capital improvements instead of taking out a high interest loan itself, saving it lots of money.
Best of all, a lot of VA club owners can invest through USAA, so they can get a big rate of return.
Ping all for us, SheLion, please!
You got it!
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