Judge Imposes Smoking Ban on Mother

[Amused]

<< I don't think we should ban smoking at someone's home but it should be banned in public places. In this case I don't think the child should be forced to go to his mother?s house, visitation rights or not.

Also I think schmookies should be outrageously taxed. The $5.00 per pack in NY isn't nearly enough. I think cigs should cost at least $20 per pack that would help get many to quit and those that don't will be paying for our roads to be repaired, nice smoke free public parks and maybe the taxes on my house will come down. >>



Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it...

Follow your plan, and you'll see tobacco bootlegging of the sort that would put the 1920s prohibition bootleggers to shame, and make the war on drugs look like a Boy Scout Jamberee.

And only a complete f'cking idiot would think higher taxes for someone else will mean their taxes will be lowered. All it means is that the government will spend more money.

 

[Lucky]

<<

<< I don't think we should ban smoking at someone's home but it should be banned in public places. In this case I don't think the child should be forced to go to his mother?s house, visitation rights or not.

Also I think schmookies should be outrageously taxed. The $5.00 per pack in NY isn't nearly enough. I think cigs should cost at least $20 per pack that would help get many to quit and those that don't will be paying for our roads to be repaired, nice smoke free public parks and maybe the taxes on my house will come down. >>



Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it...

Follow your plan, and you'll see tobacco bootlegging of the sort that would put the 1920s prohibition bootleggers to shame, and make the war on drugs look like a Boy Scout Jamberee.

And only a complete f'cking idiot would think higher taxes for someone else will mean their taxes will be lowered. All it means is that the government will spend more money. >>




yep. already taxes are being lost to overseas places like yessmoke.com where you can get a carton for $15. you'd be a fool to think revenue would increase if tobacco tax was heavily raised. A large percentage would quit and a others would get around gov't taxed smokes.

 

[Mutilator]

<< Good deal! Go outside and smoke. I wouldn't put up with living with that sh!t either.

I don't know about you, but as a non-smoker, smoke is ABSOLUTELY irritating, disgusting, smelly, and it gets in your fuggin' clothes so that YOU now wreak of it. If you want to smoke; fine. But don't subject everyone else to your disgusting FILTH! >>



Damn right! I grew up in a house full of smokers and now that I'm out on my own I can't stand to smell cigarette smoke. It really annoys me when I'm driving down I40/440 and get a big whiff of the guy infront of me smoking... for some reason that just instantly pisses me off. Good thing I'm not a violent person or you may see a lot of wrecks up and down I40 every day NFS4
I agree with this decision... is it really that hard for the woman to get off her ass and walk 10 steps to the nearest door or window to smoke? Is it that hard to not smoke while driving or at the very least put the window down? Hell for that matter don't smoke in your car at all... I might be behind you and you don't wanna piss me off now do ya? I might snap one day and you'd be the unlucky soul infront of me who ends up in a ditch or against that tree...

Kinda along the same lines (smoke, cars) but if your car isn't running well and is burning a lot of oil and sh*t and you're pouring smoke out of the back of your car please don't drive it! The only thing worse than someone smoking a cigarette infront of you is if their car is burning something and you can't get around them. Both make me wanna throw up. :|

 

[NFS4]

<<

<< Good deal! Go outside and smoke. I wouldn't put up with living with that sh!t either.

I don't know about you, but as a non-smoker, smoke is ABSOLUTELY irritating, disgusting, smelly, and it gets in your fuggin' clothes so that YOU now wreak of it. If you want to smoke; fine. But don't subject everyone else to your disgusting FILTH! >>



Damn right! I grew up in a house full of smokers and now that I'm out on my own I can't stand to smell cigarette smoke. It really annoys me when I'm driving down I40/440 and get a big whiff of the guy infront of me smoking... for some reason that just instantly pisses me off. Good thing I'm not a violent person or you may see a lot of wrecks up and down I40 every day NFS4
I agree with this decision... is it really that hard for the woman to get off her ass and walk 10 steps to the nearest door or window to smoke? Is it that hard to not smoke while driving or at the very least put the window down? Hell for that matter don't smoke in your car at all... I might be behind you and you don't wanna piss me off now do ya? I might snap one day and you'd be the unlucky soul infront of me who ends up in a ditch or against that tree...

Kinda along the same lines (smoke, cars) but if your car isn't running well and is burning a lot of oil and sh*t and you're pouring smoke out of the back of your car please don't drive it! The only thing worse than someone smoking a cigarette infront of you is if their car is burning something and you can't get around them. Both make me wanna throw up. :| >>


Nobody can smoke in my car. I forebid it. And I'm sick of seeing cigarette butts wherever I go :|

 

[BDawg]

<< The kid requested it. It's actually about god damn time courts started actually listening to the needs of the kids instead of making decisions for them. >>



I have no problem with people smoking in their houses. I do have a problem when they're smoking around their children though. It's just a disgusting, smelly habit.

When you smoke at home, you smell like smoke, your kids smell like smoke, and their clothes smell like smoke.

A responsible parent will at least go outside to smoke if he has kids. Heck my friends who smoke don't have kids and they still go outside anytime they want to smoke.

 

[TMPadmin]

Would you equate the idiocy of taxing one thing to lessen the tax on another to the idiocy of cracking a window in the car while smoking with your child in the car to protect them from your smoke? I fully know my statement would never happen.

Okay, you may have a point about the bootlegging of tobacco. And at the moment I have nothing to offer in response but I do feel that as soon as your smoke hits my nose it is infringing on my right to breath freely. And since this country is about the right to do anything we want without any punishment then what recourse do I have if your smoke enters my space?

And back to the point, why is this child being forced to visit his "mother" if he doesn't want to? Does he have the right to refuse visiting her at her house?

I have no more to say.

TMP

OH Mutilator, ditto

 

[docmanhattan]

<< Nobody can smoke in my car. I forebid it. And I'm sick of seeing cigarette butts wherever I go >>

That makes me so mad seeing cigarette butts everywhere on the road and the sidewalks. Everywhere! :| If someone wants to smoke, great. Do it where your smoke is either not going to bother others OR where it's welcomed. And then take the second to throw the stupid butt away.

What I love to see are people who are smoking in their car, ashing out the window, then throwing the butt out then proceeding to open the window waving the smoke out of it because they don't want their cars to smell bad!!

 

[TremblingFool]

I think the fact that a judge had to order her to stop smoking around her child, even though she knew her son didn't like it, says a whole lot about the mother.

-Erik

 

[Maggotry]

<< Nobody can smoke in my car. I forebid it. >>


Same here. Or in my house.

 

[Amused]

<< Would you equate the idiocy of taxing one thing to lessen the tax on another to the idiocy of cracking a window in the car while smoking with your child in the car to protect them from your smoke? I fully know my statement would never happen.

Okay, you may have a point about the bootlegging of tobacco. And at the moment I have nothing to offer in response but I do feel that as soon as your smoke hits my nose it is infringing on my right to breath freely. And since this country is about the right to do anything we want without any punishment then what recourse do I have if your smoke enters my space? >>



First off, I'm a non-smoker. Have been for over two years now.

Secondly, in publicly owned buildings, I'm all for your right to be free from smoke. However, in private businesses I believe that decision is up to the owner. If you don't like his decision, don't go to his business. The first great loss of freedom in this country occured when government formed, out of thin air and without Constitutional authority, the right to control what private businesses do within the confines of their property.

And finally, the occational waft of smoke in an outdoor situation may be unpleasent to you because you don't like the smell, but it's far from unhealthy for you by any reputable study I've ever seen. The fumes from diesel trucks alone are far more dangerous. It's funny, but I don't see people bitching about diesel fumes NEARLY as much as I do with tobacco smoke. When you start complaining about car and truck owners infringing on your rights, I'll believe your argument about tobacco smoke. As it stands now, people are overinflating some studies showing heavy environmental tobacco smoke as harmful into any slight odor being harmful to support their attempts to ban or severely limit the rights of other people just because their habit offends them.

 

[docmanhattan]

<< And finally, the occational waft of smoke in an outdoor situation may be unpleasent to you because you don't like the smell, but it's far from unhealthy for you by any reputable study I've ever seen. The fumes from diesel trucks alone are far more dangerous. It's funny, but I don't see people bitching about diesel fumes NEARLY as much as I do with tobacco smoke. When you start complaining about car and truck owners infringing on your rights, I'll believe your argument about tobacco smoke. >>

Careful. This could spiral into an anti-SUV thread.

 

[TMPadmin]

<<Secondly, in publicly owned buildings, I'm all for your right to be free from smoke. However, in private businesses I believe that decision is up to the owner. If you don't like his decision, don't go to his business. The first great loss of freedom in this country occured when government formed, out of thin air and without Constitutional authority, the right to control what private businesses do within the confines of their property.>>

I reluctantly agree with this. If the business owner wants to permit smoking anywhere in the store, restaurant etc then fine I just won't go there. If he wants his cooks to cook naked I probably wont go there either. If their food tastes like crap I won't go there, if I will have any unpleasant experience I won't go there. There are places around here I no longer go to because I cannot take my wife or my son. My wife for health reasons and my son because I don't want him exposed to the smoke. I take my business, friends and all our collective money elsewhere that will give us some consideration.

And as for cars, trucks, diesel etc, I feel the same way. I do my part to help out and get pissed when someone doesn't take the time or money to fix their car when it's spewing out fumes. I even get upset when they don't replace the $20 muffler. My question is how do these cars pass inspection? Should emissions be checked? Guess they go to a "Shady" garage for their inspections. But there is another thread.

 

[fatalbert]

while I understand why the kid doesn' t want to smell the smoke. I don't think the courts have any right to intervene in this manner

 

[jhu]

so the kid is forced to visit his mother, and she won't stop smoke while he's there? then she should be forced to stop smoking when he is there.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Well, notice this is for VISITATION rights? The child lives with his father. Know how F*CKed up she had to be for this to happen in our court system? I speculate there is more to this than just smoking. She probably showed disregard for his well being for quite some time. Like it or not, SHE is going to HIM. He does not live with her, he is her guest.. That means the judge has the right and obligation to set the rules. She forfeited that right. So she has to play by the rules, and although I am generally opposed to courts sticking their nose in most family situations, it is obviously a health issue and the child doesn't want it in his face.

 

[ShallowHal]

Any Mother who truly loves their son would stop smoking. Or at least try.

 

[DAGTA]

It would be wonderful if laws on littering were enfored much more often. Throwing a cig butt down on the ground IS littering despite the fact that it seems socially acceptable. A $500 fine on that would deter a lot of smokers from throwing them on the ground.

Also, people don't complain as much about diesel and motor fumes because motors actually serve a USEFUL function to our society. Does smoking? No. I have no doubt someone will try and argue the tax benefits, though.

Another point, how often do many smokers get up at work and go outside to smoke a cig? Sometimes once every hour. That's 5 minutes per hour outside smoking a cig. I realize not every smoker is this way but a lot are. Now, if a non-smoker got up every hour and took a 5 minute break outside, that person would likely get in trouble before long. What a great double-standard we have created in our society.

Smoking is disgusting. As far as I'm concerned, this woman got off easy with that judge. She doesn't care enough about her own kid to quit smoking in her house for him? Geez, what a 'great' parent she is.

-DAGTA

 

[jhu]

given that the father has custody of the child, this woman must be seriously fvcked up

 

[Amused]

<< It would be wonderful if laws on littering were enfored much more often. Throwing a cig butt down on the ground IS littering despite the fact that it seems socially acceptable. A $500 fine on that would deter a lot of smokers from throwing them on the ground.

Also, people don't complain as much about diesel and motor fumes because motors actually serve a USEFUL function to our society. Does smoking? No. I have no doubt someone will try and argue the tax benefits, though.

Another point, how often do many smokers get up at work and go outside to smoke a cig? Sometimes once every hour. That's 5 minutes per hour outside smoking a cig. I realize not every smoker is this way but a lot are. Now, if a non-smoker got up every hour and took a 5 minute break outside, that person would likely get in trouble before long. What a great double-standard we have created in our society.

Smoking is disgusting. As far as I'm concerned, this woman got off easy with that judge. She doesn't care enough about her own kid to quit smoking in her house for him? Geez, what a 'great' parent she is.

-DAGTA >>



This is exactly what I was talking about. The main point here is that you don't LIKE cigarettes, and see them as useless. Therefore you have no problem limiting the rights of smokers to do as they please in private businesses... and outside where the smoke is not harming you.

Some people need to learn how to look at the world more objectively.

 

[NikPreviousAcct]

I agree with the judge's decision.

nik

 

[Jimbo]

Sir Fredrick


<< I have asthma and allergies because my mother smoked while she was pregnant with me, and several years after she had me too. >>


Your statement is not really backed up by any scientific evidence. Asthma, according to that tool of "Big Tobacco", The American Lung Association, asthma is a genetic condition and is NOT caused by smoking.
Now the allergy thing is a bit more complicated. There also seems to be a genetic component to this as well, in that there is a high coloration between parents that have allergies and the likelihood that their children will develop allergies. Currently the research is ongoing.
So if you want to blame your parents, you still can, but you should switch your argument and blame them for bad genetics.
There is hope for you in that allergic reactions, in most people, decrease or go away entirely with age.
Good luck.

 

[Jimbo]

UPDATE:
DeMatteo (the Mother), however, isn't happy, and said she first heard about the son's complaints from the judge. "I don't smoke when the child's in the house, and I don't smoke when he's in my car," she said, although the son told the judge she'd smoke in her bathroom.

The mom said in court she thought her ex put Nicholas up to complaining in a bid to "thwart visitation," but the judge said the "motive is irrelevant if the behavior complained of poses a significant risk of harm to Nicholas."

Julian said he might reconsider if DeMatteo can present scientific evidence to the contrary. But the mom's lawyer, Joan Shkane, said her racetrack-worker client can't afford to hire experts - although she'd like to.

"This ruling brings up all sorts of possible civil-rights issues," she said, from how the ruling will be enforced, to whether air-quality levels in her client's home will be checked.

 

[Chipster]

I totally disagree with that judgement,it's none of the courts gd business whats goes on in someone home unless it's illegal. Ok,if the child is all bruised up from abuse,thats one thing but this is crossing the line.

The last time I checked,cigaretts were a legal product sold in almost every retail outlet in this country.

 

[TMPadmin]

Some people need to learn how to look at the world more objectively.

[/i] >>



I think you should put that statement back on yourself.

I also agree that smoking should be banned at least 50' from building entrances. Perfect example: My wife had just given birth to our first son. When we left the hospital her in a wheelchair and my son in her arms some one ignored the Polite signs stating the entrance was smoke free zone and puffed away. My wife and son got a nice big nose full of his smoke. Now here is my son only three days old and his rights are being infringed on. Anyone who can't quit smoking is weak. It's easy to quit you just stop smoking. I don't see the point in smoking, never did really except it was something to do when I was bored. But I grew out of that.

I also agree with everyone saying that a loving mother would quit for her child, or at the very least take it outside. And you're also right saying that in the court system today for the Father to have custody the mother must have other issues than just smoking.

You can always prove or disprove whatever you want to fine with your tests and studies. I bet I can fine several articles saying smoking and/or second hand smoke causes asthma. On the other hand I bet I can find just as many saying that is doesn't. Quit hiding behind your studies and admin that smoking is bad for the smoker and those around the smoker. I'm sure anyone with emphysema will agree.

 

[stonecold3169]

<<

This is exactly what I was talking about. The main point here is that you don't LIKE cigarettes, and see them as useless. Therefore you have no problem limiting the rights of smokers to do as they please in private businesses... and outside where the smoke is not harming you.

Some people need to learn how to look at the world more objectively.

>>



If I take my dog outside to go to the bathroom, and it does a number 2 on the sidewalk I should have the right to leave it there by your standards. I mean, if the dog is doing this on the sidewalk, it isn't hurting you... you may step on it, and find it repulsive, but you'll live. Therefore, I should be able to do this. Heck, why don't I just go outside and start masterbating on the street. I mean, nobody is going to get hurt by me whipping it out in public, right?

So why can't I do these things? Because somebody else will wind them to be disgusting and repulsive, and therefore the rights of that person will be infringed. The reason there are laws against these things is that a vast amount of people find them disgusting. Personally, cigarette smoke makes me nauseas, and if I'm around it more then a minute or two my clothes will smell like that. Often times it takes a few washes to completely get rid of the smell. Isn't that damaging my property?

Finally, BEFORE you started smoking, how many times did you sit down and say "Wow, I'm really nervous/stressed/depressed/whatever, I NEED a cigarette"? You didn't... and therefore, you DON'T need a cigarette. It's addiction pure and simple. I really wish they would enforce littering laws as well, because I hate walking down the street and not being able to look a square foot without seeing cigarrette butts and filters all over. Seeing as how I pay taxes, I believe that entitles me to a right as to how the roads/parks/sidewalks I pay for look.