Whistle Stop Inn, Inc. v. City of Indianapolis
Annotate this CaseIn 2005, Indianapolis passed a non-smoking ordinance (“Ordinance”) banning smoking in public businesses but providing certain exemptions. A 2012 amendment removed the exemption for bars and taverns that had liquor licenses and neither served nor employed anyone under the age of eighteen. The amendment, however, exempted businesses licensed as satellite gambling facilities by April 1, 2012. Plaintiffs, certain bars and restaurants, claimed the Ordinance violated the Equal Privileges and Immunities Clause of the Indiana Constitution because it applied to them but exempted satellite gambling facilities. The trial court granted summary judgment for Defendants, concluding that the Ordinance’s exemptions were not unconstitutional. The Court of Appeals reversed and severed the satellite facility exemption, concluding that the Ordinance’s exemption for satellite facilities violated the Equal Privileges and Immunities Clause. The Supreme Court granted transfer and affirmed the trial court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the City, holding that the Ordinance does not violate the Indiana Constitution’s Equal Privileges and Immunities Clause because the exemption for satellite gambling facilities is reasonably related to the inherent differences distinguishing satellite gambling facilities from bars and restaurants and because the Ordinance does not create a monopoly or treat similarly situated classes disparately.
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