Talking about the Bundesverfassungsgericht

The German Constitutional Court just overturned several German state laws banning smoking in bars. The problem wasn't that they violated a fundamental right to nicotine: According to the Court, the laws violated the professional freedom of people running small bars, as owners of large bars were permitted to designate separate smoker rooms - an option not available to small-bar owners, who argued that they would be driven out of business. The Court stated, however, that state laws prohibiting smoking in all bars would be constitutional. For now, one-room bars can declare themselves to be smoker bars, as long as they exclude patrons under 18 and don't serve food (the drinking age in Germany is 16, so this will exclude at least some drinkers - but then those limitations are never very strictly enforced). Two tidbits to the story that I find amusing: The small bar owners found some sympathy in the public debate because they include owners of so called corner bars - small bars on city corners that are a firm part of German mythology: The foundation of urban community life, the regular meeting place of friends and strangers, etc. Second, the bar owner who brought the suit runs the Pfauen (Peacock) bar in Tübingen - a place I frequented in my young and carefree days.