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SUPREME COURT WRAP: Law professors assess the Supreme Court term including the Bush v. Gore decision. 

TERENCE SMITH: Okay. Thomas Merrill, what caught your eye, what were the headlines cases for you?

THOMAS MERRILL: One case I would single out is the tobacco advertising case . .

So the only entity with legal authority to regulate tobacco advertising, cigarette advertising at least is the Congress and Congress appears to be not in a mood to legislate on this particular subject. The effect of the court's decision is going to be to push activity more and more toward litigation, toward lawsuits against tobacco companies and toward settlements between attorneys general and the Justice Department, tobacco companies. We' going to be dealing with the tobacco problem through courts and lawyers settling cases instead of dealing with it through state and local and national legislatures, which is where I think in our democracy, we really ought to be tackling the subject. I don't think the court is necessarily intended to make tobacco the most deregulated industry in the country but it seems to be having that effect.

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