How Springfield, Missouri's New No Smoking Law Infringes Upon the Rights of Homeowners

I just got off the phone with one of my sources in the local media. The topic of Springfield, Missouri's new no smoking law voters passed on Tuesday came up, and while I haven't read the 11 page law, this person had. What they told me was shocking. The law doesn't just affect business owners, there are parts in the bill that directly infringe upon homeowners' rights.

How so? Well let's say you hire someone to clean out your vents or do your plumbing. According to my source, if you have a service worker in your home, it is against the law for you to smoke while they are within your house working.

What about outside? There are limits to where you can smoke outside. Public parks are no longer places you can light up, even if there is no one else within hundreds of yards of you. While this doesn't offend me nearly as much as the infringement on private property rights, there are still many things in this law that will shock typical voters who voted in Tuesday election merely on emotion and not common sense from actually reading the bill.

Good news though for private property owners. The Constitutionality of this law may soon be determined in the Missouri Supreme Court. We know this because of a state-wide smoking ban in Ohio that is now being challenged. From Fox 19 News:

The Ohio Supreme Court has agreed to review the constitutionality of a statewide smoking ban that went into effect in 2007.

The case is brought by the 1851 Center for Constitutional Law, an Ohio-based public interest law firm, on behalf of Zeno's Victorian Village, a family-owned Columbus tavern.

Court spokesman Bret Crowe said Wednesday that justices agreed to hear an appeal from the owner of Zeno's who argues the law approved by voters more than four years ago is unconstitutional. The Columbus bar was cited for violations and fined $33,000.

The 10th District Court of Appeals in Columbus had upheld the law, saying there was overwhelming evidence that bar owners had intentionally violated the ban.

The court agreed to determine whether a statewide smoking ban violates bar owners' property rights and to review whether the Ohio Department of Health has consistently exceeded its authority in fining business owners under the ban.

I know Springfield business owners will be watching the Ohio case closely if they discover the constitutionality of the Ohio law is being challenged.