Rhode Island may amend smoking ban after unconstitutionality ruling News
Rhode Island may amend smoking ban after unconstitutionality ruling

[JURIST] Lawmakers in Rhode Island [JURIST news archive] have said that they will consider amending the statewide smoking ban that took effect last month [JURIST report] in light of a Newport Superior Court judge's Thursday ruling that certain exemptions in the law were irrational, and therefore unconstitutional. The Public Health and Workplace Safety Act [text] includes temporary exemptions for certain establishments, including private clubs and small bars that don't prepare their own food, with only ten or fewer employees. Judge Stephen Fortunato found those provisions unconstitutional but let stand exemptions for Rhode Island's gambling facilities. Reacting to the decision, state lawmakers said that they might be willing to reconsider the exemptions, which were initially included to help ensure the bill's passage. AP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Georgia became first US state to ban lynching

On December 20, 1893, Georgia became the first state in the Union to pass a law against lynching, making the act punishable by four years in prison. The statute was not particularly effective—read the text of the 1899 pamphlet Lynch Law in Georgia by anti-lynching activist Ida Wells-Barnett.