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How they ruled
Signing the majority opinion were Chief Justice Gerry Alexander, justices Susan Owens and Barbara Madsen, and Justice Pro Tem Bobbe Bridge (who retired but heard the case when on the bench).
Three justices wrote dissenting opinions, including Richard Sanders. In one, Justice James Johnson said Initiative 901 left intact an exemption for private facilities such as the American Legion post; Justice Charles Johnson also signed this dissent. A third justice, Tom Chambers, also filed a dissent.
Justice Barbara Madsen signed the majority opinion and wrote a concurring opinion to emphasize that the law now "prohibits smoking 'in a public place or any place of employment.'"
The Olympian
Court ruling gives Frankie's a breather
By Brad Shannon | The Olympian
A divided state Supreme Court upheld Washington's voter-approved ban on smoking in public areas and places of employment, saying Thursday that the ban extends to private clubs such as American Legion Post 149 in Bremerton.
But the decision is not expected to affect the private smoking room that Frankie's Sports Bar and Grill, owned by Frank Schnarrs, has set up one floor above its Olympia venue using volunteers and no paid workers, said Shawn Newman, an Olympia lawyer.
Newman defended the American Legion but also represents Frankie's in its fight on the issue with Thurston County health officials.
"The decision helps Frankie's by acknowledging that in a public place, there is the exemption (so) you can have smoking in a private workplace within a public workplace," Newman said.
Justice Mary Fairhurst wrote the majority, 5-4 opinion. It ran 46 pages and backed up regulatory actions by Kitsap County to halt smoking at the legion hall under terms of Initiative 901.
The court issued five opinions, including Justice Barbara Madsen's concurring opinion and three dissents. One from Justice Richard Sanders didn't mention the Frankie's case by name but questioned why the act would distinguish between two kinds of workplaces, "permitting smoking in one," such as Frankie's, but not in the legion post.
"I find this distinction perplexing," Sanders wrote.
Voters approved I-901 in 2005 by more than a 63 percent majority, and it extended the state's ban on smoking in public places to workplaces. It also set up a 25-foot no-smoking zone around doors and windows of workplaces and public areas.
Despite language on the books dealing with exemptions for private facilities, Fairhurst rejected it as a broad exemption for all private facilities. To interpret it that way "would eviscerate much of the Act and interfere with the express intent of the voters, which was to protect employees regardless of whether their place of employment is a public place," she said.
"We hold smoking is prohibited in the Post under the Act because it is a 'place of employment' and the prohibition, as applied to the Post, is constitutional," she said.
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