Last June, Indiana Court of Appeals Judge John G. Baker ruled that Winner’s Circle, Hoosier Park Racing & Casino’s off-track betting parlor in downtown Indianapolis, should not be exempt from the city’s smoking ban. Baker wrote, “We find that the exception is unconstitutional because it treats satellite facilities differently than bars and restaurants, and this disparate treatment is not reasonably related to the inherent differences between the two entities.”
Now on January 28, the state Supreme Court will hear oral arguments to determine if Hoosier Park’s petition to transfer the case should be granted. In the petition, Hoosier Park attorney Peter Rusthoven wrote the Indiana Horse Racing Commission regulates racing facilities, including satellite wagering locations. “Unlike bars and taverns, the OTB has in fact been subject to extensive scrutiny by a state agency charged with regulating OTBs.” Rusthoven further argued Baker’s decision “upsets decades of Indiana law and invades the province of a legislative body, by disregarding the city’s reasonable decision to defer to the commission.”
Rusthoven also wrote that 47 percent of Hoosier Park clientele smoke; therefore, the company “could not economically risk making the OTB smoke free.”
Indianapolis bar owners, who oppose the smoking ban, unsuccessfully filed a petition claiming their patrons should be able to smoke if Winner’s Circle patrons are allowed to. They said the exemption violates the equal privileges and immunities clause of the Indiana Constitution.
