Supreme Court rules on Smoking Ban challenge

The Ohio Supreme Court has issued a 7-0 decision on a challenge to Ohio's Smoking Ban filed by Zeno's Victorian Village.

From the ruling:

R.C. Chapter 3734—Smoke Free Workplace Act—Legislation requiring proprietors of public places of employment to prevent smoking on premises is valid exercise of state’s police power—State’s enforcement of legislation against property owners does not constitute regulatory taking without just compensation.

The Justices unanimously affirmed a finding by the Tenth District Court of Appeals' that Zeno's Victorian Village should have exhausted their administrative appeals on the issue, so the matter was not properly before the court.

In the opinion, Justice Judith Ann Lanzinger wrote:

"Because appellants failed to request an administrative hearing for eight of their violations and because they failed to prosecute the two administrative appeals they did request, appellants did not raise any constitutional challenge regarding any of its ten violations. Therefore, appellants failed to exhaust their administrative remedies, and this constitutional issue is not properly before the court."