Connecticut's indoor-smoking law is constitutional even though it exempts casinos and private clubs, the state Supreme Court has ruled.

The Associated Press reported Feb. 5 that the high court ruled 4-1 to allow the ban on smoking in restaurants and bars to stand. The court turned back a challenge to the 2003 law by the hospitality industry, which claimed that the measure violated the equal-protection clause of the state constitution because it allowed some businesses to continue to allow smoking.

But the court said that, "This decision to exempt private clubs from the smoking ban, while imposing the ban on new private clubs, is consistent with our conclusion that the legislature reasonably may have been endeavoring to protect the financial investment and settled expectations of members of private clubs."

The court added that tribal sovereignty limited the ability of the state to ban smoking at the casinos.