Post ASAP: Warning Alert - Theater Night

Indeed, there does seem to be a new development. We are getting reports from our participating bars that health inspectors are arriving in person at the bar, demanding to see the owner and presenting him/her with a document stating: (1) we believe you have been hosting Theater Night in your bar; (2) the MN Department of Health has determined that Theater Night in bars violates the state's smoking ban; and (3) by signing this document, you agree not to host Theater Night again and avoid the possiblity of being fined up to $10,000. They are also taking pictures for quote "evidence".I couldn't figure out why they were doing this at first, outside of sheer harassment and intimidation. But then I checked Minn. Stat. 144.99, Subd. 4 (administrative penalty orders) which gives the MDH the authority to issue fines. To issue a fine under the procedures outlined in Minn. Stat. 144.991, an adminstrative penalty order “must include”:

(1) a concise statement of the facts alleged to constitute a violation;

(2) a reference to the section of the statute, rule, variance, order, stipulation agreement, or term or condition of a permit that has been violated;

(3) a statement of the amount of the administrative penalty to be imposed and the factors upon which the penalty is based; and

(4) a statement of the person's right to review of the order.

(my emphasis.) It appears pretty clear to me that our dedicated public servants at the MDH have hit upon a way to enforce the smoking ban -- by getting unsuspecting bar owners to enter into a "stipulation agreement". This would be the hook by which a bar owner would expose himself or herself to legal enforcement by the MDH of the smoking ban.Because they don't got the law -- and they know it.That's why they have been going out en masse and in person to get quick signatures on these documents -- and catch us off guard. We are warning our people of what will happen if they sign it.The show goes on!-- Mark Benjamin