Indianapolis' Smoking Ban Will Be Challenged in Court Today

Indianapolis’ ban on smoking in bars will be challenged in court today, saying the rule is illegal.

A group of tavern owners and attorney Mark Small unsuccessfully fought the 2012 indoor smoking ban in federal court, but Small is now arguing against it in state court. He says the ban violates the Indiana Constitution’s equal privileges clause.

That’s because, Small says, the city’s off-tracking betting parlor has an exemption from the ban. "Now what is there that’s inherent to gambling that makes it so interwoven with smoking as to be an exemption under Article 1 Section 23?" he said in an interview.

The blue-collar bars Small represents are also hurt economically by the smoking ban, he argues.

"They’ve lost a lot of business. And if people want to choose not to go into a smoking bar, they don’t have to," he said. "They can stay out of it."

The argument has been successful before. In 2013, Evansvillie bar owner Paul Stieler was able to overturn his city’s smoking ban, where a riverboat casino was exempt from the ban.

Many bars in Indianapolis had already gone smoke-free when the city instituted the ban.

The Indiana Court of Appeals is scheduled to hear arguments from Small and attorneys from the city and betting parlor defending the ban this afternoon.