Tobacco Articles: org aclu

ACLU backing tribe in smoke-shop suit: The state has asked that the case be reconsidered, saying the ruling would dramatically limit its ability to enforce laws on the Narragansetts' land.

Sun, 25 Sep 2005 04:00:00 GMT

The American Civil Liberties Union and the National Congress of American Indians are backing the Narragansett tribe in challenging the state's raid on a tribal smoke shop. The Rhode Island Affiliate of the ACLU, the national ACLU and the NCAI filed a friend-of-the-court brief Wednesday arguing that the highly publicized raid violated the tribe's sovereign rights. "This case raises issues of enormous consequence for Indian tribes. We are hopeful that the court will agree that the state's heavy-handed raid was incompatible with long-standing principles of tribal sovereignty," Steven Brown, executive director of the Rhode Island ACLU, said in a statement.

House Rules Committee Shuts Out Needed Patriot Act Reforms, Yet Adds "Smokeless Tobacco" Amendment

yourname@server.ext — Thu, 21 Jul 2005 04:00:00 GMT

Following a late night meeting of the House Rules Committee yesterday on legislation to reauthorize the Patriot Act, the American Civil Liberties Union today expressed its disappointment . . . However, the Rules Committee did allow an amendment, offered by Rep. Howard Coble (R-NC), that would amend the Contraband Cigarette Trafficking Act to, among other things, extend its reach to cover "smokeless tobacco." The ACLU takes no position on the need to combat trafficking in chewing tobacco but expressed its disappointment that the committee rejected other amendments that were clearly germane to the excesses of the Patriot Act.

LETTER: Don't infringe on right to smoke

Sat, 14 May 2005 04:00:00 GMT

Dr. Sams' crusade to eliminate smoking by Rapides Parish school staff members on school grounds appears to be infringing on their rights, yet Dr. Sams supports and advocates the American Civil Liberties Union that advocates civil rights/liberties on varied levels. So what gives here?

Employer on Good Footing with Smoking Ban, Experts Say

rsutro@blr.com — Thu, 03 Feb 2005 05:00:00 GMT

Michigan smokers can fume all they want, but there's no law preventing employers from refusing to hire them or even firing them if they refuse to quit. That's the judgment of legal experts interviewed by many news organizations after Weyco Inc., a medical benefits administrator based in Okemos, Michigan, saw four of its approximately 200 employees quit in January, rather than submit to a mandatory smoking breath test. . . . A spokeswoman for the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan told the Detroit News that her organization decided not to challenge the Weyco policy because there is no state law prohibiting employers from controlling behavior outside the workplace.

Costs Make Employers See Smokers as a Drag

Fri, 28 Jan 2005 05:00:00 GMT

Pointing to rising health costs and the oversized proportion of insurance claims attributed to smokers, some employers in California and around the country are refusing to hire applicants who smoke and, sometimes, firing employees who refuse to quit. "Employers are realizing the majority of health costs are spent on a small minority of workers," says Bill Whitmer, chief executive of the Health Enhancement Research Organization, an employer and healthcare coalition in Birmingham, Ala. Federal and state laws bar employers from turning down applicants or firing workers based on race, religion or gender. Some states have enacted laws offering similar protections for smokers. But experts say workers in nearly half the states, including California, have few legal options if employers decide to prohibit them from smoking outside the workplace.

Groups file lawsuit for smoking initiatives

online@rgj.com — Fri, 14 Jan 2005 05:00:00 GMT

A lawsuit challenging the disqualification of Nevada initiative petitions to legalize the use of marijuana and to limit smoking in public places has been filed in U.S. District Court. The lawsuit, filed Wednesday by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Marijuana Policy Project, seeks to force Secretary of State Dean Heller to forward the initiative petitions to the state Legislature. Heller rejected the petitions in December and cited an attorney general's opinion that the groups circulating the measures didn't collect enough valid signatures. He rejected two measures to regulate smoking and the marijuana measure. . . . "We followed all the state's rules from day one," said Neal Levine, director of state policies for the Marijuana Policy Project. "Then, without warning, they changed the rules after we turned in the petition. They have violated our right to due process, and we fully expect to win in federal court."

County commissioners to again consider heated issues

camie.young@gwinnettdailypost.com (Camie Young) — Tue, 01 Jun 2004 04:00:00 GMT

Also on the agenda is a committee Dunn set up to study the county’s 2-month-old smoking ordinance. While few restaurateurs showed an interest in the decision when it was made late last year, dozens showed up to protest after the new law went into place in April. . . . Dunn hopes to place two men from opposite sides of the debate on the five-person committee — Steve Coldiron, the chairman of Smoke-Free Gwinnett and one of the biggest proponents of the law, and Bill Gentry, owner of Gwinnett’s only indoor entertainment hall, Wild Bill’s, who asked for an exception and considered a lawsuit over the ordinance.

LETTERS: Smoking Out Some Truth On Nyc Cigarette Ban

Wed, 12 Nov 2003 05:00:00 GMT

As a strong supporter of Mayor Bloomberg's continued efforts to inoculate New York's best and brightest from the idiocy of its worst and dumbest - tobacco abusers - I feel compelled to state the obvious: The no-smoking laws are here to stay

Where is the ACLU when it is truly needed? When the possession of an ashtray is a crime, it is an egregious assault on civil liberties

I'd like to give those self-righteous "I Love a Smoke-Free NY" control freaks a piece of my mind. Their ads focus on captions like "If they ban smoking in office buildings, no one will ever work again." That's stupid.

Last year, Mayor Bloomberg claimed that a total ban on smoking would save 1,000 people in New York City from death by exposure to someone else's cigarette smoke. Last week, he upped it to 2,000 people. That's the "science" anti-smoking crusaders use, especially those in power, to trample over free choice and private property. They say it, so it's true - no need for further proof. -- Audrey Silk

Study Reveals Tobacco Industry Political Spending, Influence

Mon, 02 Jun 2003 04:00:00 GMT

SACRAMENTO, June 2 (AScribe Newswire) -- Tobacco control advocates are citing a new study released today as evidence to support their proposal to increase California's tobacco tax by $1.50 per pack of cigarettes and earmark 20 cents for the State's Tobacco Control Program. The study, "Tobacco Policy Making in California 2001-2003: No Longer Finishing First" was co-authored by University of California, San Francisco professor, Dr. Stan Glantz, Ph.D., a renowned expert on the effects of tobacco use. The study concludes that the tobacco industry has been extremely effective at thwarting public policies aimed at strengthening the California Tobacco Control Program and reducing smoking statewide. This study also reveals that the tobacco industry has stepped-up its efforts in Sacramento to court legislators, legislative candidates, political parties and constitutional officers.

Armey considers post with ACLU

Wed, 20 Nov 2002 05:00:00 GMT

House Majority Leader Dick Armey did not win the flat tax that spurred him to run for office, but he departs Washington with his cowboy-boots image and one more surprise as he exits the stage: He may go work for the ACLU. A conservative Texas Republican with a libertarian bent, Mr. Armey says he is considering consulting with the American Civil Liberties Union on privacy issues now that he is retiring from Congress after 18 years. It's not as big a leap as it may appear, despite the ACLU's left-leaning image. . . "Armey culturally, definitely represented the sagebrush rebellion with cowboy boots, a deep tan, his deep smoker's laugh," said Kenneth R. Weinstein, director of the Washington office of the Hudson Institute

Rocky targets public smoking: He wants to ban it from church plaza and city sidewalks

bsnyder@desnews.com (Brady Snyder / Deseret News staff writer) — Sun, 27 Oct 2002 04:00:00 GMT

Mayor Rocky Anderson is on the warpath, and cigarettes are in the cross hairs. Anderson plans to ban smoking from the Main Street Plaza of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when he develops plaza restrictions in the coming weeks. And while that ban is designed to appease the plaza's owners — the LDS Church — Anderson looks to spread anti-smoking laws to other city locales, including public sidewalks. . . Stephen Clark, an attorney who represented the American Civil Liberties Union in a lawsuit challenging speech and conduct restrictions on the plaza, said he isn't concerned with smoking restrictions. "The ACLU and its clients did not file this lawsuit against smoking or sunbathing," he said. "We filed this lawsuit based on freedom of expression and freedom of speech." To focus on smoking "trivializes the issues that are at stake here," Clark said.