Libertarian Party of Alabama
2330 Highland Avenue
Birmingham, AL 35205
Contact: Stephen Gordon
(256) 874-2985
stephen@small-government-solutions.com

Alabama Libertarians Disapprove of State Smoking Ban Proposal
State Senate Prepared to Deprive Alabamians of Individual and Property Rights
"The sole object and only legitimate end of government is to protect the citizen in the enjoyment of life, liberty, and property, and when the government assumes other functions, it is usurpation and oppression." - Alabama Constitution

On Thursday, the Alabama Senate Education Committee voted 7-1 for a bill which will significantly impact the rights of business owners, employees and consumers throughout the state. The bill, sponsored by Education Committee Chairperson Vivian Davis Figures (D-Mobile) will outlaw smoking a cigarette, cigar or pipe in most restaurants, bars, retail stores, malls, transportation hubs and most other indoor places in Alabama where the public is invited or allowed. This bill, already endorsed by the Senate Democratic Caucus, will now go to the full Senate for consideration.

For the most part, there are very few malls and retail outlets in the state which allow smoking inside their premises.  Some airports, such as Huntsville International, will be impacted by this legislation, should it pass. Many bars and some restaurants across the state will be hurt by this bill.

"It's a matter of basic property rights and individual liberty," said Libertarian Party of Alabama Chair Stephen Gordon. "Business owners have the right to determine practices within their own facilities. Customers should have a right to make their own decision about whether they wish to go to a smoking or a non-smoking establishment, or to sit in a smoking or a non-smoking section. Apparently Senator Figures feels entitled to pass laws which deprive our citizens and our business owners of the right to make their own decisions. She is attempting to deprive people of the right to make their own choices by using the force of law to make these personal decisions for everyone in the state."

There is no law in Alabama at this time which mandates that people seek employment in food or entertainment establishments which allow smoking, nor is there any law in place which mandates that customers use such facilities.

"Currently, common sense and the free market are working well to determine where one may or may not smoke," Gordon continued. "In my general community, there are bars which proudly advertise on the air about their smoke-free status. Others allow smoking. Customers and employees have choices, courtesy of the free market. Common sense responsible practices also work. For example, the Huntsville airport allows smoking one floor up, way around the corner well off the beaten path, behind closed doors and with a (presumably) separate ventilation system. One would indeed have to try very hard to accidentally run into any second hand smoke there."

The majority of newspaper reports in Alabama aren't even providing an opposing view to the proposed legislation. That this legislation was initiated in the Senate Education Committee, as opposed to the Health or Small Business Committees, makes public statements that this bill is aimed to protect the health of Alabamians suspect. Instead, this legislation is a direct attack on property rights, individual liberty and the free market.

If this situation truly involves a taking for the public good, this legislation needs to be amended so that business owners will be properly compensated for any business losses they incur as a result of the forfeiture of a portion of their property rights -- an issue addressed both in the Fifth Amendment and the Alabama Constitution.

The Libertarian Party of Alabama strongly urges Alabama legislators to consider the property and individual rights of their constituents, as well as the financial repercussions of toying with the free-market system, when this bill hits the Senate floor.

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