"We would bring that lawsuit against both [a store owner] and the Texas Lottery Commission"

A provision in the 17-year-old law that protects the rights of the disabled could effectively ban smoking in virtually every convenience store in Texas, a lawyer who makes at least part of his living filing lawsuits on behalf of people who are denied equal access to government services because of their physical limitations told the Texas Lottery Commission on Wednesday.

Wayne Krause, a staff attorney for the Texas Civil Rights Project, was among several witnesses who urged the three-member panel to deny stores that allow on-premises smoking the privilege of selling lottery tickets because people with severe respiratory ailments put their health at risk if they go inside. To allow ticket vendors to set their own smoking policies would violate the Americans with Disabilities Act's mandate that guarantees 'meaningful access' to government services and programs, the witnesses said. Read more