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U.S. Supreme Court cites Tobacco Control Legal Consortium amicus brief - William Mitchell College of Law 

The U.S. Supreme Court cited the Tobacco Control Legal Consortium’s amicus curiae brief in a recent Internet tobacco law case. The Legal Consortium, headquartered at William Mitchell’s Tobacco Law Center, is a national network providing legal expertise to support tobacco control policy change.

On Feb. 20, 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously overturned a Maine law that regulates deliveries of tobacco products . . .

The Tobacco Control Legal Consortium’s brief, drafted by Kathleen Dachille, director of the Legal Consortium’s Maryland affiliate, argued that Maine’s tobacco delivery law, which regulates the sale and delivery of tobacco products over the Internet, is a legitimate exercise of the state’s public health police powers and a necessary response to Congress’s call to reduce youth access to tobacco.

In a concurring opinion urging Congress to remedy the regulatory gap the Supreme Court decision creates, Justice Ruth Ginsburg quoted from the Tobacco Control Legal Consortium’s amicus brief: “As cyberspace acts as a risk-free zone where minors can anonymously purchase tobacco, unrestricted online tobacco sales create a major barrier to comprehensive youth tobacco control.” Justice Ginsberg concluded with another quote from the brief: “The same sort of age verification safeguards (must be) used when tobacco is handed over-the-doorstep as …when it is handed over-the-counter.”

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