Jump to full article: New York Sun, 2008-04-09
Author: JIM COPLAND
Intro: Later this year, the Supreme Court will hear the case of Altria Group v. Good in order to look at state lawsuits that claim that tobacco companies engage in deceptive trade practices when they advertise cigarettes as "light" or "low tar and nicotine." The case will "decide whether tobacco companies are vulnerable to state law suits arising from the claims on their labels."
The tobacco companies argue, convincingly, that such claims are preempted by the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act of 1965. Under that law since 1967, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission has regulated cigarette packaging and advertising, including claims about tar and nicotine levels.
. . .
Although Judge Weinstein inevitably will continue to attract similar cases before him, Thursday's decision does stand as a major rejection of stretching our federal anti-mob laws into lawyer-driven class actions that target legal businesses. But the state law claims proliferating around the country are based not upon RICO but often ambiguous state consumer fraud statutes. For the fate of those lawsuits, we'll have to wait until the Supreme Court speaks.
--Mr. Copland is the director of the Center for Legal Policy at the Manhattan Institute. He owns shares in Altria.
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