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State's attorney opts to ignore protest

By Tara Fasol, The Southern

Friday, February 29, 2008 12:11 PM CST

WILLIAMSON COUNTY - A West Frankfort man could be off the hook, according to Williamson County State's Attorney Chuck Garnati, who says he's going to ignore a Saturday protest against the Smoke-Free Illinois law.

"When I first heard about this I didn't know what to think," Garnati said in a press conference Thursday. "On one hand I applaud Mr. (Jon) Hemminghaus."

Hemminghaus owns Wounded Rig, Inc. - a boat fiberglass and gel coat repair business - located on Illinois 37, south of West Frankfort. While the business has a West Frankfort postal address, it sits on the Williamson County side of the county line, putting it under the jurisdiction of Williamson County law enforcement.

In the front yard of his business, Hemminghaus has a homemade sign reading, "My Place, My Choice, Smoking Allowed." To emphasize that point Hemminghaus has planned a "Smoke-In" for Saturday.

Hemminghaus claims he received a phone call from an aggravated Garnati, who threatened him with arrest and fines if he went ahead with the event.

Garnati disputed Hemminghaus' comments, saying he never threatened him; he merely explained the law.

"I never did tell that man he was going to be taken into custody or arrested," Garnati said. "That is a ridiculous statement that is not true. I couldn't arrest him if I wanted to. If you read the act the penalties are only fines."

It's possible Hemminghaus was looking for a "big reaction," Garnati said, and he wasn't going to offer one up.

"As far as I'm concerned they can smoke all they want amongst themselves," he said. "I wish they wouldn't do it because it is terrible for their health. I care about their health, I guess, more than they do."

Garnati said he understands that the smoking laws are confusing to the public. Portions of the law were written unclearly and others with a blatant disregard for due process, he added.

The law, as it was intended, aims to protect the rights of non-smokers, Garnati said, and since Hemminghaus' event calls for smokers to gather he doesn't see that it directly diminishes the basic purpose.

"If another business wants to have a group of smokers come in and ruin their health, again the law is to protect non-smokers," he said. "I want to make it clear that I want to enforce the purpose of the law, and the purpose of the law is to protect non-smokers."

Hemminghaus said although that might be the purpose of the law, the purpose of his peaceful protest was to make an impact.

"They have come around and turned around completely the other direction," he said. "I don't really understand how they flip-flop that easy."

For now, the only police presence is an offer from Williamson County Sheriff Tom Cundiff to send deputies to the event, to help with parking and traffic, Hemminghaus said.

tara.fasol@journalist.com

351-5824