Opposing Views – by Amanda Andrade-Rhoades
Edwin Gray likes smoking cigarettes, but a Superior Court judge in Washington D.C. has ruled Gray can’t smoke anything in his home – including marijuana, which was recently legalized in the District.
Gray’s neighbors filed a civil lawsuit against Gray and his sister, Mozella Johnson, who lives in the family home. The neighbors, a couple with one child and another on the way, alleged in their lawsuit that they’re being harmed by Gray’s smoke – which permeates their home through a hole in the basement.
“We were floored,” Johnson told WJLA. Their family has owned the home for 50 years.
The judge filed a temporary injunction and ordered that no one in the house, including guests, smoke indoors.
Washington D.C. real estate attorney and Washington Post columnist Benny Kass was surprised at the outcome. “I think it’s an excellent precedent to start, so people can realize you can’t just ignore your neighbor,” Kass said. “Your home is no longer your castle.”
The lawsuit asks for $500,000 in damages, and the case is ongoing, but Johnson believes the injunction sets a bad precedent. “If this judge has done this, who will be next? What other neighbor will be next?” he asked.
Kass thinks this case is just the first of many. “I think this is going to open the door to a lot of thinking, a lot of cases,” she said. “I gotta believe once this comes out there’s going to be 100 cases filed in Superior Court tomorrow.”
The couple who filed the lawsuit declined an interview with reporters, but they said in a statement they sought mediation with Gray before filing the suit.
http://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/judge-bans-man-smoking-his-own-home
Commie neighbors, Commie lawyers, Commie judge, why doesn’t somebody just fix the hole in the basement? They must do a lot of smoking in the basement since smoke goes up and not down.
“The neighbors, a couple with one child and another on the way, alleged in their lawsuit that they’re being harmed by Gray’s smoke – which permeates their home through a hole in the basement. ”
How about this: instead of a half million lawsuit, lawyers, courts, etc…THEY FIX THE F*CKING HOLE IN THE BASEMENT FOR $20 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! wtf?
Something is not right here. If the Johnson’s own the home, then the busy body comrades are renting from them? Or is this some kind of duplex or quad home where each unit is owned by different people? That’s why I prefer single family homes.
Why not fix the hole in the basement? Because some people just see dollar signs and want a freebie instead of handling it the humane way. What next, how about the neighbors make to much noise making love so the neighbor disturbed by noise!!
i moved from an apartment because of cigarette smoke. there was a small closet that housed the water heater and the smoke found its way through there somehow. who wants neighbors below you anyways. you also worry about them burning the place down with you in it.