Can a judge bar a parent from smoking around a child?
A family court judge in New York has prohibited a mother from smoking in the presence of her 13-year-old son. But what makes this visitation order extraordinary is that he banned the mother from smoking, even though the child is neither allergic to cigarette smoke nor afflicted with a disease, such as asthma, that could be exacerbated by exposure to cigarette smoke. Justice Robert F. Julian cited scientific evidence on the generally adverse health effects of second-hand smoke and found that continued exposure to environmental tobacco smoke is not in the best long-term interests of the child. Justice Julien said courts in New York and several other states have banned parental smoking when it was directly related to a current and ongoing malady suffered by an offspring. However, the judge said he was unable to find any decision ordering parents to maintain a smoke-free environment absent an underlying diagnosis of asthma, allergy or another disorder. The 2001 case of Johnita M. D. v. Dav
