New York Court Nixes State Parks Department Smoking Ban

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briarfriar

Can't Leave
On Tuesday, a New York Supreme Court judge blocked the state's ban on smoking at state parks, beaches, swimming pools, playgrounds, et al. imposed by the Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation. The ruling faults the bureaucracy for its attempts at legislating, saying the parks department's ban had intruded into the duties of the state legislature, which has not banned smoking on such state-owned properties.
It's a confusing issue, so let me add that this has nothing to do with any smoking prohibitions enacted by the City of New York and Nanny Bloomberg.
The New York Attorney General says he is considering an appeal of the ruling. (In New York, the state Supreme Court is not the highest court. The Court of Appeals is. Don't ask me why.)
Read all about it here.

 

reichenbach

Part of the Furniture Now
Jan 5, 2012
552
2
West Park, NY
Could it be that New York State is showing signs of turning a corner? I'll believe it when the price of a pouch of Captain Black goes back below $10. In the meantime, I will enjoy this victory and raise my pipe to Audrey Silk.
If you haven't yet, check out her website. Ms. Silk is the closest thing tobacco users have to a lobby, in my opinion. The site does seem to focus on cigarettes and NYC in particular but try to give it a chance because 1) Like it or not, we're lumped in with cigarettes under the umbrella of "Nasty, Evil Tobacco" and 2) you may think, 'What does New York City have to do with Fill in Your Town? Nanny Bloomburg has a large stage, lots of money and a chip on his shoulder, so when he is able to buy and bully his agenda into law in a city of millions, it sets precedents for other municipalities, big and small.
PS I'm not sure if the link works. If it doesn't the web address is www.nycclash.com.
I apologize in advance if I'm not allowed to post that link.

 

reichenbach

Part of the Furniture Now
Jan 5, 2012
552
2
West Park, NY
That may be happening anyway and all this talk is just, excuse the play on words, a smokescreen. My favorite anecdote about the passage of the indoor smoking ban in NYS was that it kept coming up for debate and every time there was an open discussion period, it would get knocked down and tabled again. Once they realized that, they only named it with a number, didn't announce the open discussion period and presto! No opposition from the public and they were happily announcing a new state law to protect bartenders, wait staff and THE CHILDREN.
That is why I said above that this is a small victory but I should have said probably a temporary victory.

 

macattack

Starting to Get Obsessed
Sep 20, 2012
130
0
Tobacco will probably be put on the back burner for a while so they can try to legalize marijuana and work on turning lawful gun owners into felons.

 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
I for one don't want to be paying for enforcement of regulations supervising the personal habits of the public.

Trying to micromanage the habits of the population is a fool's errand. I have been tempted to make a flying

grab at the ice cream cone being devoured by a person who to my view is morbidly obese, but I have instructed

myself that it is none of my damned business, nor is it state government's. So, good for New York State.

 

woodsroad

Lifer
Oct 10, 2013
11,591
15,311
SE PA USA
Could it be that New York State is showing signs of turning a corner?
No.
This is an issue of the bureaucracy overstepping the legislature. It is not about individual freedoms, which died a long time ago in NY.
Trying to micromanage the habits of the population is a fool's errand.

Spoken like a Sage, but alas, government micromanagement very hip these days. All issues are now parsed as marketing schemes to gain a one point voter margin, rather than being filtered through the lens of Constitutionality. "How can I manipulate and spin this to win more market share" is the key question that legislators apply to all aspects of human existence. They will continue to rent the fabric of life in a vain attempt to gain the upper political hand, until we descend into the dark abyss of social insanity.
Until that day, buy more leaf. More. Buy more.

 

reichenbach

Part of the Furniture Now
Jan 5, 2012
552
2
West Park, NY
Since this issue has been brought up again and we are coming into parks and beach season, I urge all New Yorkers to be aware of the current standing of this legislation so we can be aware and ready when we are approached by the petty bureaucratic minions seeking to enforce 'laws' that are no longer laws. You know that the second the law is passed, they are briefed on what the new enforcement rules are but when a law (such as this law) is rolled back, they are, more than likely, still encouraged to push the prohibition. If you can cite the law and even the specific language used, all the better. And don't be afraid to speak to a supervisor. You are, for all intents and purposes, a paying customer because, let's face it, the outside is not free.

 

sjfine

Part of the Furniture Now
Mar 4, 2012
653
4
(In New York, the state Supreme Court is not the highest court. The Court of Appeals is. Don't ask me why.)
I believe that the New York Supreme Court was, at one time, the highest court in New York. However, the Court of Appeals was created to hear certain appeals, and later became the highest court, leaving the Supreme Court as the "court of first instance." I could have some of this wrong.
As an aside, Supreme Court "judges" aren't, they are Justices - a holdover from when the Supreme Court was supreme.
Q. What do you call an attorney with an IQ of 50?

A. Your Honor.

 
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