INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A federal judge has upheld Indianapolis' smoking ban that prohibits smoking in most public places, including bars, bowling alleys and hotel rooms.
After the ban took effect last June, a lawsuit seeking to overturn its provisions was filed in federal court in Indianapolis on behalf of more than 40 plaintiffs that included 10 bars, a bar customer and a bar employee.
But WTHR-TV and The Indianapolis Star report that U.S. District Judge Richard L. Young said in Wednesday's ruling that the ban's opponents failed to demonstrate "the merits of their claims."
Young also wrote in his ruling upholding the ordinance that the smoking ban "advances the public interest, and the legislative choice to include bars and taverns is constitutionally sound."
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