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View Full Version : Smoking ban 'unenforceable'



stephanie
12-22-2007, 10:03 PM
Here ya go all you haters of smokers..Hopefully...farters, perfume wearers, too much makup weares, etc, etc, etc, will be next..:cheers2:

By Toriano L. Porter | toriano.porter@examiner.net

WATCH VIDEO: Security Camera from Smoking Bust

A lawyer for the owner of the Player's Club Bar and Grill in Independence has challenged in court the enforceability of the city's Clean Indoor Air Act ordinance and won.

John Carnes, an Independence attorney for Player's Club owner Jennifer Brashear, got Jackson County Circuit Court Judge Jeffrey Bushur to overturn two clean air citations given to Brashear. Municipal judges in Independence had found Brashear guilty of violating the city's health code by allowing patrons of the lounge to smoke on two separate occasions.

"There are some holes in that ordinance that basically makes it unenforceable," Carnes said. "It's an unworkable ordinance when it comes to enforcement."

City Manager Robert Heacock said the city attorney is reviewing the appeal and city staff will address perceived holes in the smoking ordinance in a timely fashion.

"The case is being reviewed by our legal department," Heacock said. "We are not sure what the next step will be."

Carnes said on April 13 a Player's Club customer claimed to have observed patrons smoking in the lounge. The person, Carnes said, contacted Heacock, who notified the Health Department.

The Health Department issues a citation, alleging violation of the city's clean air ordinance. After a hearing, the city's municipal court found Brashear in violation of the ordinance, Carnes said.

Carnes added he represented Brashear in the municipal case as well as a appeal hearing Monday before the associate court, where Bushur found Brashear not guilty based upon testimony and a review of the applicable provisions of the ordinance.

"The issue was trying to fit what you had to do to prove the person violated the ordinance," Carnes said. "That ordinance contains vague and overbroad language, making it legally impossible for the city to enforce the ordinance."

Brashear's conviction on the second citation, issued June 8, was also overturned by Bushur Monday.

In that case, Carnes said six officers from the Independence Tactical Swat Team and two patrol officers accompanied two Health Department employees in response to a a report that a person may have been smoking in the establishment. Three citations were issued, one to Brashear and two to customers.

read the rest...
http://www.examiner.net/stories/121907/new_226940470.shtml

actsnoblemartin
12-23-2007, 04:08 AM
lets ban everything that is bad. :laugh2: