In Re. Julie Anne, A Minor Child

The Court issued a restraining order against smokers to protect a child under the court’s jurisdiction  from the dangers of exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke.  The Court took judicial notice of the harmful nature of secondhand smoke on the health of children, citing numerous studies that characterized secondhand smoke as a carcinogen and a hazard to those exposed to it.  The Court concluded: “The overwhelming authoritative scientific evidence leads to the inescapable conclusion that a family court that fails to issue court orders restraining people from smoking in the presence of children under its jurisdiction is failing the children whom the law has entrusted to its care.”  The Court granted a restraining order with provisions that “the mother and father are hereby restrained under penalty of contempt from allowing any person, including themselves, to smoke tobacco in the presence of the minor child Julie Anne.  If smoking is allowed in the house in which the child lives or visits on a regular basis, it shall be confined to a room well ventilated to the outside that is most distant from where the child spends most of her time when there.”

780 N.E.2d 635, 121 Ohio Misc. 2d 20, 2002 Ohio 4489, 2002 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 46, 17.5 TPLR 2.334 (OH Ct. of Common Pleas 2002).