Lawsuit to derail Springfield smoking ban starts journey through courts

Jeannie Doublin, owner of Ruthie's Bar, is behind the lawsuit against the city.

June 02, 2011|by Jay Scherder, KY3 News | jscherder@ky3.com

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A judge held the first hearing on Thursday for a lawsuit that aims to stop the city's voter-approved smoking ban. The owner of Ruthie's Bar on Commercial Street is trying to overturn it.

Both sides agreed to have another hearing next week to allow the city more time to prepare for arguments. The plaintiff believes she has a good shot at winning the whole thing.

"My mother and my aunt opened this bar in the late 1970s," said Ruthie's Bar owner Jeannie Doublin.

Doublin's family has been in the bar business for a while.

"When she retired in 1999, I took it over."

She now fears that the era of Ruthie's Bar could be coming to an end.

"I think they are going to put a lot of places, a lot of little places like this, out of business," she said Thursday morning before the hearing.

The heart of the issue is the ban on smoking in most enclosed public spaces, some outdoor places like playgrounds, and many company vehicles that voters passed in April. Its effective date is set to be June 11.

"I think it will eventually force me to close," she said. How soon "depends on how much money I can come up with to keep it running."

Doublin decided she isn't going down without a fight and filed a lawsuit against the city to try to overturn the ban. City officials believe, based on judicial rulings elsewhere, that the lawsuit won't succeed.

"I feel our chances are good so long as we stick to the law," said Doublin's attorney, Jonathan Sternberg of Kansas City.

Greene County Associate Circuit Judge Jason Brown decided to move the hearing on the first phase of the lawsuit -- a temporary injunction against enforcement of the law until the case is decided -- to next week to allow the city more time to put their arguments together.

"Cases like this have succeeded in Michigan, New Hampshire, and Washington," Sternberg said.

Until then Ruthie's Bar will operate just like any other day and hope for the best when the time comes.

"[I'm] very hopeful. I hope they can at least take a second look at this," said Doublin.

A lot of bars have created patios or outdoor areas where the law would allow smoking. That's not an option for Ruthie's Bar. It's surrounded by city sidewalks and can't create a patio. It also can't put any tables up outside because it doesn't serve food.

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