Appeals court: Bar's 'theater nights' violated smoking ban

Associated Press
Updated: 07/14/2009 10:47:08 AM CDT

The Minnesota Court of Appeals has agreed with a judge's ruling that "theater nights" in a northeastern Minnesota bar were violating the state's smoking ban.

Tank's Bar in Babbitt had allowed patrons to smoke under a loophole in the smoking ban that allows actors to smoke as part of a theatrical production.

But a St. Louis County judge ruled in May that wearing a badge that says "Actor" doesn't make it a theatrical production. Today, the appeals court agreed.

In its decision, the appeals court says "Gun SMOKE Monologues" was not real, but a sham.
Bar owner Tom Marinaro had wanted the court to offer a definition of "theatrical performance," but the court declined, saying it wouldn't discuss hypothetical situations.