The Nation : N.Y. Court Rejects Public Smoking Ban

The highest court in New York overturned the ban on public smoking enacted by the Public Health Council, declaring that only the Legislature can impose such regulations. In a 6-1 decision, the Court of Appeals upheld two lower courts that also said the council had usurped legislative powers when it imposed the ban in February. The regulation, adopted at the urging of Gov. Mario M. Cuomo, would have prohibited smoking in schools, hospitals, auditoriums, stores and taxis. It required workplaces and restaurants with more than 50 seats to provide nonsmoking areas. Bars, private parties, tobacco stores, homes, hotel rooms and private automobiles would have been exempted by the regulation.