Fundraising appeal, soon DEFENSEofRIGHTS.COM

04-13-08 Steve --Go ahead. And put out the word that it won't be a fair fight for a one-man law firm to go up against the state's Attorney General. We're asking for donations. Make checks out to
MN Tavern League and send them to:

Kenn RockerPresidentMN Tavern League

235 East RoselawnSuite 17

Maplewood, MN 55117

and put in the memo section Theater Night Defense Fund.-- Mark Benjamin

On top is a 04-09-08 Update from lawyer Mark Benjamin. It's been almost a decade since so-called "big tobacco" funded this. On the other side IMPACT, Now "Clean Air Minnesota has alleged received a $200 million dollar endowment from the MN tobacco settlement and has a $20 million dollar annual budget. Lawyer Mark Benjamin's new remarks are in grey just below this. The original message is in black below that. Greg Lang

04-09-08 Hi All --I am sending down to Kenn Rockler today a cashier's check for $1,270 to help in hiring an administrative law attorney. Kenn says that he has about $600 in the kitty right now. That's a drop in the bucket for the legal expenses we will incur -- but it's something.I encourage everybody to get the word out that this movement is going to take some money if we are to successfully counter the tactics of the Health Department.-- Mark Benjamin

Tavern League of Minnesota
235 East Roselawn., Suite 17
Maplewood, MN 55117
http://www.tavernleaguemn.org/

Email: kennrock@hotmail.com
Phone (651) 487-2149 or (877) 332-9257 Fax: (651) 487-21

March 25, 2008
This is an open letter to all individuals and businesses who are concerned with the erosion of ourcivil rights, the harm being done to thousands of employees, hundreds of businesses, the State of Minnesota’s budget, and hundreds of charities throughout Minnesota. We are talking about the extreme downturn in business that is a direct result of The Freedom To Breathe Act (FTBA), which went into effect October 1, 2007. The evidence is now in and the facts are conclusive, this legislation is causing severe economic damage to the hospitality industry. It is clear that the FTBA is going to result in more jobs being lost than the closing of the Ford Plant and a merger between Northwest Airlines and Delta Airlines combined.
There are many people who fought against the bans but there is one person who has seized the opportunity to offer the industry the chance to re-open the issue at the Minnesota State Legislature. Attorney Mark Benjamin through his understanding of the Theatre Exemption provision in the FTBA, his willingness to assist bar owners in setting up their own theatre productions, and his willingness to defend (pro-bono) bar owners who are (have been cited) for using theatre nights in an attempt to save their businesses, has brought this issue to the attention of not only Minnesotans, but to people and the press from all over the world.
Mark is still working pro-bono and it is taking 110% of his time. In the meantime, he has incurred thousands of dollars in expenses in cell phone bills, travel expense, and office expense. This fight is for everyone who cares about our freedom as citizens, veterans, employees, and small businesses. We need to assist Mark in this fight. We are seeking your assistance to partially defer Mark’s expenses in this fight for all of our rights and for Mark to hire an administrative law attorney to address the unethical “bullying” tactics of the MDH. The Tavern League is setting up a dedicated fund to help in this fight. 100% of your donation will be going to Mark Benjamin’s Defense fund. None of this money is going to lobbying so it is 100% deductible and can be a personal or a business check. Please send your contributions whatever the amount you deem appropriate to the Tavern League at the above address. It doesn’t matter how small the amount you feel you can donate, this is everyone’s fight. Please include “Mark Benjamin’s Defense Fund” on the check.
We thank you sincerely for your contributions and your efforts in this fight.
Sheila Kromer Kenn Rockler

Form letter to send to State Representatives (cut and paste and add personal comments if you wish.)

1
(Date)
Dear Representative (name),
I am writing to encourage you to support the revisions to the Freedom to Breath Act, H.F. #4032 that were recently introduced by Representatives Howes, Rukavina, Otremba, Emmer, and Solberg. I believe that the Minnesota government has gone too far by restricting smoking in establishments like VFW halls, and bars. These places are frequented by veterans, and adults who deserve the right to make their own decisions. The owners of these establishments should also have the right to choose whether to allow smoking, or not. Everyone knows that smoking is not healthy, but neither is it healthy to lose a job, go out of business, or lose the social gathering place you have gone to for years. Please let common sense prevail in this matter.


Respectfully,
(Name)
(Address)

Form letter to send to State Senators (cut and paste and add personal comments if you wish.)

(Date)


Dear Senator (name),


I am writing to encourage you to support the revisions to the Freedom to Breath Act, S.F. #3727 that were recently introduced by Senator Skoe. I believe that the Minnesota government has gone too far by restricting smoking in establishments like VFW halls, and bars. These places are frequented by veterans, and adults who deserve the right to make their own decisions. The owners of these establishments should also have the right to choose whether to allow smoking, or not. Everyone knows that smoking is not healthy, but neither is it healthy to lose a job, go out of business, or lose the social gathering place you have gone to for years. Please let common sense prevail in this matter.


Respectfully,


(Name)
(Address)

Can We Post:Sheila's Letter to House Rep

From: Sheila Kromer
To: Carol McFarlane
Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 2008 5:48 PM
Subject: Looking for Your Support
Dear Carol,

I am writing to ask you to support HF 4032, a bill that asks for smoking exemptions for small bar establishments, VFW's and American Legions. These establishments are being hit extremely hard financially, some are barely holding on and others have closed. I'm sure you are aware of the current trend of "theater performances" in bars. If businesses were doing so well with non-smoking, theatrical performances (that may include smoking) would be non-existent. I know that some people will point to the economy as the culprit here, however, I would disagree with that and I have the numbers to prove it. I don't diasgree that the economy plays a role in the business downturn but it is by far not the main reason for the downturn. I would like to share some of my liquor sale's tax numbers with you.


Below are our %'s of loss or gain based on liquor sales tax. These numbers are based on comparing the same month, year to year.

Jan 06 compared to Jan 07 our liquor sales tax numbers increased +26%
Feb 06 compared to Jan 07 our our liquor sales tax numbers increased +58%

Dec 06 compared to Dec 07 our liquor sales tax numbers decreased -21.5%
Jan 07 compared to Jan 08 our liquor sales tax numbers decreased -26%
Feb 07compared to Feb 08 our liquor sales tax numbers decreased -2%

January is always our busiest month of the entire year and weekends are always busier than weekdays by far. We started theater nights on Feb 9th, a Saturday night. (unadvertised). There was 1 weekend in February that we did not have theater nights at all, 2 weekends that we only had it on Saturday nights, and 1 weekend that we had it on both Friday & Saturday nights.


Can you explain what happened in February? This is not anecdotal, but fact. I would encourage you to visit the website www.freedomtoact.com , you will find many stories from various establishments there. These stories tell the real truth about the devastion that is currently going on. It not only affects bar owners and their families but employees, vendors, distributors, and the entertainment industry to name a few. Even though we have done considerably better in February (and March is looking good too), we have just had to lay off one employee, cut the hours of two other employees, and close 3 days a week. Unfortunatley, the terrible downturn since the enactment of the smoking ban in October has hit us really hard and we have not been able to make up for it yet.

I would appreciate any support that you can give in this matter.

Thank-you so much for your consideration and time. Looking forward to your response.
Sheila Kromer
3695 Midland Ave.
White Bear Lake, MN 55110
651-426-8743 home

Star Tribune Letter to the editor.

http://www.startribune.com/local/west/16929686.html
Bar patrons responding to smoking ban's tyranny If the intent of the Minnesota smoking ban was to improve indoor air quality, the law would have been written in terms of an air-quality standard and not a smoking ban.
With their participation in "theater nights," bars are using the letter of the law to protest the spirit of the law behind the state's five-month-old indoor smoking ban.
When the spirit of the law is tyranny, civil disobedience will surely follow.
LOWELL JOHNSON. BLOOMINGTON

Remember that U of M reporter who was at The Rock on 2/19? Here's her video:

From: Mark Benjamin
To: SheilaKromer
Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 2008 11:38 AM
Subject: U of M Video of The Rock's First Theater Night

Sheila --Remember that U of M reporter who was at The Rock on 2/19? Here's her video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YncKRAtAZ4oSee if Greg can post it.-- Mark Benjamin

My opinions on bars risking the $10K fines and alternatives.

(disclaimer) These are the opinions of myself Greg Lang and not lawyer Mark W. Benjamin or Barnacles Shiela Kromer or any other person.

The Minnesota Department of Health sent out a letter giving a vague opinion on the "smoking theater" being illegal and threatening a draconian $10,000 fine and criminal penalties. You can read the letter here (click on image fore larger image. http://freedomtoact.blogspot.com/2008/03/blog-post.html
The $10,000 threat is definitely intimidating. We have a test case with the first court appearance April 04, 2008. I am not a lawyer and am not "privy" to Mark Benjamin's specific legal strategies but he has discussed this a lot and I have read virtually everything. Also, I have "some" knowledge of courts and law so here goes.

First off the description of "theater" is vague and undefined. In the 19th Century the "Chautauqua" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chautauqua was a very popular form of "theater", sometimes with partisan slant. With so-called "street theater" imitation is no the sincerest form of flattery but there were classics like the San Francisco "diggers" holding a mock funeral for the "hippy" after the "Summer of love". Added to that we have at least two cases reported where the so-called legitimate theater (Jungle Theater) had smoking on stage with no warning, playbills or notifications. (I quit smoking more than 30 years ago before the original Minnesota clean air act and I had to avoid cigarette smoke for close to six months to avoid "nicotine fits". Also I had an asthmatic girlfriend. I would have been a real bind if we planned a "smoke-free" evening out, bought two pricey tickets and then were exposed to smoke. This happened post ban at the Jungle Theater. ) I would ask if the Minnesota Department of Health sent out this letter to the so-called "legitimate" theaters.

The next argument, which is pervasive with the court is if the wording of the so called "Freedom to breath" law is vague the legislature had and has the right to reopen the law and revise it. The MN Court of Appeals and MN Supreme Court tend to consider this argument very persuasive. There are many other arguments that I'll leave to Mark for the sake of brevity.

If the MN Appeals or Supreme Court throws out the "Freedom to Breath" law or in effect rules that Skakesphere was right when he state "The whole world is a stage" and we are all actors there could be legal chaos! For example, this summer we will be hosting Republican National Convention. There will be many protests and "informal theater". What if some of these protesters want to enter indoor spaces and have "smoking theater?".

The solution to this is for the legislature, while still in session to adopt reasonable requirement for smoking in bars, private clubs and VFW's. Basically the local municipality would have to make an ordinance to allow this, prominent posting that there is smoking would be required and specific ventilation would be required.

It's up to bar owners but with the weather getting warmer it might not be worth it the risk of the potential $10K to have indoor smoking. Bars might print out and post updates on this. One trick to save ink costs is to cut and paste text to a notepad and print that out. Also, on outdoor patios you might have occasional open stage "theater nights". It will give people hope and an outlet. A huge number of people dislike the bar smoking bans but found nowhere to turn.

Also, try to support and promote the Tavern League of Minnesota. They have done a lot and their website has a lot of useful information. http://www.tavernleaguemn.org/