I agree with the general thrust of your argument, Tim, but the point about "public" is a bit more complicated.
You say:
In the case of the library presumably outside their door is library property. No general law is needed, just library rules about its own property. A library is "public" in the sense that its open to the public, and probably in the sense that it is publicly owned, but it isn't public to the same extent as a normal street corner. It should be able to apply rules against unacceptable behavior that would fall short of what would get your arrested or fined on a street corner.
The library is public; in every sense of the word I know, it's a property of the boro. As for taking the notion that because the library is "public" and thus can insist that smoking not occur on its property, that would then mean the boro could do such.
What's a bit odd, funny, whatever about that, is that government can and does regulate the street corners. For many years, for instance, each time a street is repaved, the street corners are made wheel chair accessible. That's, of course, government regulation.
I'm not arguing street corners should be declared smoke free zones; just that local and state government already regulates those zones. |
