COLUMBUS — Ohio's ban on indoor smoking in public places and workplaces is constitutional, Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Fred Nelson has ruled.

The case, brought by the Cincinnati-based Buckeye Liquor Permit Holders Association, is the only challenge to the smoking ban that has resulted in a court decision, Attorney General Marc Dann said on Monday, March 10.

Nelson released his ruling on Friday, March 7, just before the Cincinnati courthouse was closed due to the bad weather, Dann said.

Nelson repeated portions of a preliminary ruling he made last year. "This court has concluded that neither the Constitution of the United States nor the Ohio Constitution creates a fundamental right to smoke in public," Nelson wrote. "The court declines to fabricate such a right."

The lawsuit contended that smoking is a "fundamental liberty right," Nelson wrote. He also rejected a claim that the law was vague.

His decision also said that he considered the plaintiffs' property rights arguments and that the evidence "did not establish that the (ban) unconstitutionally constrains plaintiffs' rights to use and control property."

H. Louis Sirkin, attorney, for the liquor permit holders group, said he was disappointed but not surprised and that the group would appeal. Sirkin said he would file a separate action, claiming that the law amounts to taking private property without just compensation.

He said that the ban has caused bars to lose significant business.

Voters approved the ban in November 2006.

The ban included an exemption to permit smoking in private clubs such as those run by the VFW, American Legion or fraternal groups but the Appeals Court in Franklin County has struck down a rule implementing the exemption. Dann has asked the Ohio Supreme Court to reconsider the appeals court ruling.

Contact this reporter at (614) 224-1608 or whershey@DaytonDailyNews.com.