Edwin Gray smokes outside his Northeast D.C. home.



Under D.C.'s new law, anyone can smoke pot in their home. But a temporary decision by a Superior Court judge means one man in the District can't light up anything at his home—including pot and cigarettes. The 7 On Your Side I-Team found the decision could also impact you.

Edwin Gray loves a cigarette to relax, but now he's got to smoke them outside.

"You want me to stop what I've been doing in my house, all my life," he said.

Gray is not quitting cold turkey by choice. Instead, it's by a temporary order of the court that Gray can no longer light up in the Northeast D.C. home that's been owned by his family for 50 years.

"We were floored," said Gray's sister, Mozella Johnson.

Johnson says she was shocked a lawsuit filed by neighbors who moved in last year could now dictate what the family can do inside its home.

D.C. real estate attorney and Washington Post columnist Benny Kass was also surprised to learn a judge recently issued a temporary injunction in the civil lawsuit filed by Gray and Johnson's neighbors. Court filings show the couple that moved in next door has one child and another on the way. They claim they're being harmed by smoke they say sneaks into their home through a hole in the basement.

"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."

But with no moat and only shared walls in many D.C. homes, the habits of your neighbor can rise to what Kass calls a private nuisance. A judge agreed in a decision last week, saying in the injunction that Johnson, Gray and any guests or family cannot smoke cigarettes, cigars or marijuana in their home "even if it's legal in the city where they live".

"If this judge has done this, who will be next? What other neighbor will be next?" Johnson asked.

She and her brother are vowing to continue fighting. Kass believes others may fight as well, with this decision setting precedent for public nuisances in the District.

"I think this is going to open the door to a lot of thinking, a lot of cases," Kass said. "I gotta believe once this comes out there's going to be 100 cases filed in Superior Court tomorrow."

The couple suing Johnson and Gray declined 7 On Your Side's request for an interview. Court filings and a statement they supplied to ABC7 say they tried to work with Johnson and Gray, but had to file suit when mediation attempts failed. In addition to the injunction, their lawsuit asks for $500,000 in damages. The case is ongoing.

http://www.wjla.com/articles/2015/03/temporary-precedent-setting-court-order-means-d-c-man-can-t-smoke-in-own-home-112130.html

What we have here is a case of gold-digging via lawsuit.

DC LIBERALS! What next is right!

it sets a precedence on what the liberals can tell you what you can or can't do in your own home....

they may be gold-diggers, but the liberals are seeing it differently, like sticking your toe in the water to see if you should jump in...

DC needs to silently slip into the ocean......

this country can't last like this for very much longer, i feel really sorry for my kids...

Liberals and their PC BS is turning our nation into a bunch of pussified, whiny, mommies brats, with their hands out and their mouths open, drooling on themselves waiting for the next turn at the entitlement trough

they are also teaching the kids that they cannot survive with the government, all those 70-90 year old farts(kerry) in the senate/congress can leech off of them for their tenure...

I heard about this op ... I would not stop either that is just wrong ... now I might seal where they say it is coming through just not to have the fight but that is ridiculous ...really gone to far on that one...

its your home but not your air,,,,the air belongs to everyone

similar to noise ordinances that impact neighbors when your music is LOUD ENOUGN to come into their space

it makes sense to also have ordinances regarding the air that impacts your neighbors..

how difficult would it be to smoke somewhere that the smoke wont pass through to the neighbors?

bathrooms anyone? or into a stovetop fan? they are designed to capture smoke...

no its the point of it all ...
who are his neighbors to tell him what to do in his own home...
after so many years of living there ...
that's what this is more about ...
and if the law suit sticks ...
so many others will crawl out from the woodwork
to sue for the same thing ...

I believe they are citizens who have a right to file a complaint

and if it is warranted for action to be taken it should be

when the point is your right infringing upon mine

whether its my 'right' to live in peace vs your 'right' to be loud

or my 'right' to not breathe in cigarette smoke in my home vs your 'right' to smoke in yours

these are not simplistic matters because they involve more than just one persons 'home'


and the term 'right' is overused here as in most cases,,, but I see this as a reasonable concern and easier to handle than a ban, but just requiring more consideration of others, in terms of not smoking where its going to flow over into anothers private space

I understand about what your saying with the law about noise that has been around for a long time ... but now you are talking something different kinda like cking out where you might live before living there ... could be worse... could be a rapist on parole lol get my drift ... everyone has rights ... and this is just something different to place a complaint about ... and watch the out come is all I am saying ... will it be thrown out or will others start sueing for the same kind of thing ...