Smoking ban lawsuit allowed to proceed

Publication Date: 2005-01-28

• Author:AP
• Publication:Billings Gazette

A judge has left in tact much of the lawsuit challenging a smoking ban narrowly approved by voters here last November.

In a decision handed down Wednesday, Albany County District Court Judge Jeffrey Donnell dismissed the portions of the lawsuit that claimed the language on the ballot did not accurately describe the ordinance and that not enough ballots were printed. But he upheld challenges to voter instructions and the way ballots were handled.

"Wonderful," said Sherri Derenzis, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. "This means we still have a chance to make our case."