US Ban on Smoking in Public Housing Is Upheld
A U.S. appeals court on Friday upheld a ban on smoking in federally subsidized public housing.
The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals said the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) properly enacted a 2016 rule requiring state and local public housing agencies to ban cigarettes, cigars, and pipes inside housing units and indoor common areas, and outside within 25 feet of those spaces.
Six tenants and a smokers’ rights group, the New York City Citizens Lobbying Against Smoker Harassment (“NYC Clash”), challenged the ban, known as the Smoke Free Rule.
They said it improperly invaded their privacy and violated due process by preventing them from engaging in lawful activity—using tobacco—inside the home….