Jump to full article: Associated Press (AP), 2008-09-26
Author: DEBORAH BAKER
Intro: Stephen Brown was so opposed to New Mexico's ban on smoking in public places that he got himself cited for lighting up in a Catron County bar just minutes after the new law took effect.
He has been battling it ever since - so far to no avail. He lost the most recent round in the state Court of Appeals last week.
"I guess next is the (state) Supreme Court," Brown said.
Brown, a disabled veteran who worked as a cook before he retired, lives in Reserve in southwestern New Mexico. He recalls that he and his wife were the only customers at Uncle Bill's Bar when he lit up a cigarette just after midnight on June 15, 2007.
"I had to have my wife call the sheriff so he'd send a deputy down and issue me a ticket," Brown said. . . .
His legal argument is that the exemptions in the law - including for casinos, cigar bars, private clubs and designated hotel and motel rooms - violate a section of the state constitution that prohibits giving some persons or businesses rights or privileges not accorded to others.
"Our challenge is to the exemption scheme," said Brown's lawyer, Amavalise Jaramillo of Belen.
The argument hasn't swayed judges in district court - where Brown appealed from magistrate court - or in the Court of Appeals, which said on Sept. 16 that the exemptions are reasonable.
Jaramillo plans to ask the state Supreme Court to review the appeals court's decision. The high court could take the case or not.
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