Tobacco.org

• Federal appeals court sends smoking suit back to state court 

A federal appeals panel returned a lawsuit to state court after the Alabama Supreme Court said there was precedent for holding retailers who sold cigarettes responsible for smoking-related illnesses.

In a ruling released Monday in the 1998 case originating in Mobile County, the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that retailers can be held responsible under Alabama law for selling cigarettes to minors.

The Atlanta-based appeals court had asked the state Supreme Court to say whether retailers could be held responsible before it issued a ruling. . .

U.S. District Court judges had earlier dismissed claims against the retailers who sold Kalen Oliver Tillman Sr. cigarettes years ago. In January 2000 the court also ruled in favor of the cigarette maker, R. J. Reynolds.

The plaintiff, Brenda D. Tillman, appealed to the 11th Circuit as a result.

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• Smokers could sue retailers, justices say 

The Alabama Supreme Court wrote Monday that state law could allow a deceased smoker's family to claim retailers are negligent for selling cancer-causing cigarettes.

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals said it could find no Alabama cases on that matter and put the question to the Alabama Supreme Court. The court's answers to the federal panel are advisory.

The appeals court asked whether Alabama's law allows any "potential cause of action" against any retailer who sells cigarettes under the Alabama Extended Manufacturer's Liability Doctrine. . .

The state court said claims of negligence and wantonness could be brought against the retailers, but that other claims premised on the doctrine should not be pursued.

The questions resulted from a Mobile case the appeals court is reviewing. Kalen Tillman smoked Winston brand cigarettes from 1968 until he developed cancer. He died in 1999. . .

Tillman originally sued R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., RJR Nabisco Inc., Winn-Dixie of Montgomery Inc., Food World, Racetrac Petroleum Inc., and five individuals. Tillman lost in court, but his family appealed.

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