http://www.tobacco.org/newsfeed/org/scott.rss Latest top tobacco news headlines en-us http://online.wsj.com/article/SB116049118700888104.html http://tobacco.org/news/233648.html A group of 30 states failed to persuade the Supreme Court to review whether three small tobacco companies can use one lawsuit to challenge state-by-state payment requirements related to a massive 1998 industry settlement. The court's decision not to consider the appeal means the three companies can proceed, in a New York federal court, to challenge payments to state accounts established to cover damages in tobacco lawsuits. The companies had challenged provisions of the settlement under which all tobacco companies -- even those that didn't participate in the settlement -- are required to make annual payments to the states in perpetuity, an amount estimated to reach $243 billion over the first 25 years. The Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition Wed, 11 Oct 2006 04:00:00 GMT http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/20/opinion/20fri4.html http://tobacco.org/news/215275.html it must be noted that Mr. DeLay's junket habit is something he has in common with the nation's judiciary, which he has criticized so many times for the wrong reasons. (Recall, for example, his threatening anti-judge screed in the aftermath of the Terri Schiavo case.) In 2000, the year of Mr. DeLay's lobbyist-financed St. Andrews trip, nearly 100 federal judges engaged in distressingly similar behavior. These judges attended all-expenses-paid private seminars for judges held at resorts offering excellent golf, tennis, skiing and spa services. The trips were underwritten by monied interests out to influence judges to rule in favor of corporate interests on issues like environmental protection and liability for harmful products. Just as Mr. DeLay's Scotland trip with Mr. Abramoff was treated in official filings as privately sponsored "fact-finding," the judicial seminars are conducted under the innocuous-sounding banner of "judicial education." In reality, these slanted multiday sessions mock the ideal of an independent, impartial judiciary, and pose a threat to the appearance and reality of judicial integrity. And it's not just judges from the lower federal courts who have deluded themselves into thinking that their trips will not undermine public trust. Just remember Justice Antonin Scalia's duck-hunting trip with Dick Cheney in 200 . . . In September, Justice Scalia showed he'd learned little from the episode when he failed to attend the swearing-in of Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. because he was teaching a seminar for the Federalist Society at the exclusive Beaver Creek ski area in Colorado. Justice Scalia permitted the society, an influential conservative legal group, to promote the event to lawyers, some of whom may have matters before the Supreme Court now or in the near future, as "a rare opportunity to spend time, both socially and intellectually," with a justice. The pitch had all the dignity and subtlety of a capital fund-raiser for a senior Ways and Means Committee member. . . . Embarrassed by ethics scandals, the Republicans who run Congress seem poised to enact new lobbying reforms, including a crackdown on lobbyist-financed travel. While they are in cleanup mode, why don't they also bar special interests from wining and dining the judiciary? Although the rules for judges might wisely include a few separate wrinkles - like an overdue judicial pay raise or a small pot of money to underwrite real judicial educational programs - the basic principle is the same. Members of Congress should not be accepting compromising free trips or other gifts, and neither should federal judges. New York Times Fri, 20 Jan 2006 05:00:00 GMT http://www.theneworleanschannel.com/news/2150326/detail.html http://tobacco.org/news/123934.html Testimony was scheduled to resume Tuesday morning in New Orleans in the state's class-action lawsuit against the tobacco industry. WDSU NewsChannel 6 Tue, 22 Apr 2003 04:00:00 GMT http://www.bloomberg.com/fgcgi.cgi?T=marketsquote99_news.ht&s=APdWYRxZYTG91aXNp http://tobacco.org/news/108631.html The Louisiana Supreme Court rejected cigarette companies' request that a class-action trial include testimony on the actions of individual smokers, Associated Press reported. The court said the trial's first phase will focus on allegations such as marketing of cigarettes to children, the manipulation of nicotine levels and whether the industry engaged in fraud and conspiracy, AP reported. Bloomberg News Fri, 15 Nov 2002 05:00:00 GMT http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20021115/ap_on_bi_ge/tobacco_lawsuit_2 http://tobacco.org/news/108626.html NEW ORLEANS (AP) - In a blow to the tobacco industry, the Louisiana Supreme Court on Friday ordered a plan for a class-action trial that will focus on whether cigarette makers conspired to keep smokers hooked. The court rejected the industry's request to include testimony on the actions of individual smokers. The plaintiffs had argued that doing so would threaten the lawsuit's class-action status. Instead of individual damages, the plaintiffs are seeking money from cigarette companies for medical monitoring of Louisiana smokers and for programs to help them quit. The court said the trial's first phase would concentrate on issues including the alleged marketing of cigarettes to children, the alleged manipulation of nicotine levels, manufacturing a dangerous product and whether the industry engaged in fraud and conspiracy. The court gave no indication of when the trial might start. AP Fri, 15 Nov 2002 05:00:00 GMT http://www.nola.com/archives/t-p/index.ssf?/newsstory/tobacco23.html http://tobacco.org/news/77252.html Civil District Court Judge Richard Ganucheau on Monday began trying to find nine new alternate jurors for the upcoming trial of a statewide smokers' class-action lawsuit against tobacco companies. By late afternoon, three potential jurors were questioned, and all three were excused. The nine alternate jurors will replace individuals the Louisiana Supreme Court and state 4th Circuit Court of Appeal said Ganucheau should not have allowed on the jury because they expressed interest in seeing their family members get free medical tests and stop-smoking help that the lawsuit seeks for all current and former Louisiana smokers. New Orleans Times Picayune Tue, 23 Oct 2001 04:00:00 GMT http://www.csnews.com/csnews/headlines/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1083516 http://tobacco.org/news/76711.html Preparations for the on-again, off-again trial of a statewide class-action lawsuit against the nation's biggest tobacco companies will begin again Monday, when attorneys and the judge in the Civil District Court case start picking replacements for nine alternate jurors, The (La.) Times-Picayune reported. The Louisiana Supreme Court this week cleared the way to rebuild the panel of alternate jurors but refused the companies' request that a whole new set of jurors and alternates be chosen to replace those seated this summer. The high court last month ordered Judge Richard Ganucheau to replace four jurors and five alternates after concluding they were biased, which is why nine new alternate jurors are needed now. Convenience Store News Thu, 18 Oct 2001 04:00:00 GMT http://www.bloomberg.com/fgcgi.cgi?T=marketsquote99_news.ht&s=AO88BvBX5VG9iYWNj http://tobacco.org/news/76706.html U.S. tobacco companies lost a bid to start anew in picking a jury in New Orleans to decide whether the industry must pay to monitor the health of Louisiana smokers and help them quit. The Louisiana Supreme Court rejected the companies' claim that a flawed process might leave them with a biased jury. In a one-page ruling, the high court denied the motion for a new hearing on the matter. Philip Morris Cos., R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Holdings Inc. and other tobacco companies claimed trial Judge Richard Ganucheau forced them to use all their jurors challenges on people the judge should have disqualified himself. Nine of 12 jurors must agree on a verdict in the case. . . Nine alternate jurors still remain to be selected, and that process is expected to take two weeks beginning Monday. Bloomberg News Thu, 18 Oct 2001 04:00:00 GMT http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/capital/index.ssf?/newsstory/tobacco17.html http://tobacco.org/news/76611.html Preparations for the on-again, off-again trial of a statewide class-action lawsuit against the nation's biggest tobacco companies will begin again Monday morning, when attorneys and the judge in the Civil District Court case start picking replacements for nine alternate jurors. The Louisiana Supreme Court this week cleared the way to rebuild the panel of alternate jurors but refused the companies' request that a whole new set of jurors and alternates be chosen to replace those seated this summer. The high court last month ordered Judge Richard Ganucheau to replace four jurors and five alternates after concluding they were biased, which is why nine new alternate jurors are needed now. The process of choosing the alternates will begin Monday with questioning of 52 people who filled out surveys for possible jury service but were not called to court for interviews this summer. If a larger pool is needed to come up with nine alternates, 200 more prospective jurors will be summoned. New Orleans Times Picayune Wed, 17 Oct 2001 04:00:00 GMT http://www.bloomberg.com/fgcgi.cgi?T=marketsquote99_news.ht&s=AO8YFSBTdVG9iYWNj http://tobacco.org/news/76300.html Philip Morris Cos. and other U.S. tobacco companies asked Louisiana's highest court to throw out the entire jury in a lawsuit by Louisiana smokers who want health checkups. The Supreme Court of Louisiana last month threw out three jurors and four alternates who the tobacco companies claimed were biased. Another appellate court threw out two others, leaving 12 jurors and one alternate. The tobacco companies now want to throw out those as well, claiming trial Judge Richard Ganucheau should have excused a number of jurors on his own. The tobacco companies said they had to use all their jury challenges on potential jurors the judge should have dismissed. ``Simply removing biased jurors is insufficient to remedy the harm caused by the district court's numerous errors,'' the companies said in Tuesday's filing. The errors ``made it impossible for defendants to develop and implement a coherent plan for selecting a jury,'' the companies said. The companies asked state's top court to declare a mistrial and begin jury selection again. ``We believe it is a fundamental issue of unfairness,'' said Seth Moskowitz, a spokesman for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Holdings Inc. ``The only way to fully remedy it is to start anew.'' Bloomberg News Thu, 11 Oct 2001 04:00:00 GMT http://www.nola.com/newsflash/index.ssf?/cgi-free/getstory_ssf.cgi?n2071_BC_LA--TobaccoTrial&&news&newsflash-louisiana http://tobacco.org/news/76190.html Tobacco companies have asked Louisiana's highest appeals court to throw out the entire jury picked for class-action lawsuit aimed at making the companies pay to monitor the health of current and former smokers. The companies' appeal to the state Supreme Court says the judge in the pending statewide trial made so many mistakes in picking a jury last summer that the only fair remedy is to declare a mistrial and start over. . . The tobacco companies contend their right to a fair trial was violated by the way Ganucheau handled attempts to challenge the qualifications of other jurors whose relatives would qualify for the medical monitoring called for in the lawsuit. AP Wed, 10 Oct 2001 04:00:00 GMT http://www.nola.com/newsflash/index.ssf?/cgi-free/getstory_ssf.cgi?n1660_BC_WV--TobaccoTrial&&news&newsflash-louisiana http://tobacco.org/news/75846.html There is no proof that people who smoked a pack of cigarettes a day for five years and then quit are at a statistically significant, higher risk of developing lung cancer, but a health expert who testified against the tobacco industry Wednesday said he believes that's when the risk begins. Few scientific studies have ever looked at short-term smokers, and the ones that have analyzed long-term smokers found "biologically meaningful" risk after 20 pack years, said Dr. David Burns, a professor of pulmonary medicine at the University of California-San Diego. . . Burns is an important witness in the class-action lawsuit that some 250,000 West Virginia smokers have filed against R.J. Reynolds, Philip Morris, Lorillard and Brown and Williamson. He helped develop the proposed medical monitoring program the lawsuit seeks for symptom-free smokers who have at least a five pack-year history. . . When initially questioned, Burns said a five pack-year history -- or the consumption of 36,500 cigarettes -- is enough to qualify as significant exposure to a known hazardous substance. That's among the half-dozen points the smokers must prove to prevail. "The more you smoke, the more likely you are -- other things being equal -- to develop lung cancer," Burns said. However, under cross-examination that will continue Thursday, Burns conceded that no studies have been published to define where a smoker's risk of developing lung cancer actually begins. A few were conducted, he said, but the results were inconclusive. . . R.J. Reynolds attorney Jeff Furr painted Burns as a longtime industry foe with both a financial and political agenda. AP Wed, 03 Oct 2001 04:00:00 GMT http://brownw.newsreal.com/pages/brownw/Story.nsp?story_id=23968830&ID=brownw&scategory=Tobacco+Litigation& http://tobacco.org/news/75834.html A juror in the trial of a statewide class-action lawsuit against Philip Morris and other big tobacco companies was at work Sept. 18 when a colleague said a man from Philip Morris was on the phone for her. "I can't speak with them," Darlene Thomas told co-worker Lana Miller. The caller left no message. The mystery phone call was the subject of a hearing Thursday because parties in the tobacco litigation have been barred from communicating with jurors. State District Judge Richard Ganucheau, presiding over the case in New Orleans, learned of the call after Thomas called his clerk to report it. "You did exactly the right thing," Ganucheau told Thomas. The judge ordered the parties in the case to find out if any calls were made on behalf of Philip Morris to individuals in New Orleans on Sept. 18. "We certainly want to do an investigation to see if our client has any connection to this," said Philip Morris attorney Charles Gay, who asked Ganucheau for time to investigate the matter, including getting a copy of relevant phone records from the juror's employer. But he added, "This (call) could have been done by the plaintiffs. It certainly is something that could have come from anywhere."Attorneys for the plaintiffs - hundreds of thousands of current and former Louisiana smokers - said the judge handled the matter appropriately. B&W NewsReal Sat, 29 Sep 2001 04:00:00 GMT http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010926/ts/tobacco_louisiana_dc_1.html http://tobacco.org/news/75410.html Nine jurors must be replaced before a trial can begin in a class-action lawsuit that seeks to require tobacco companies to pay for medical tests for Louisiana smokers, the state Supreme Court has ruled. The trial had been scheduled to begin on Sept. 5, but was delayed by defense appeals challenging the impartiality of the jury. No date had been set for new jury selection to resume, a Civil District Court spokesman said on Wednesday after the Louisiana Supreme Court ruling. . . ``On balance, we think that the revised jury is an improvement for the tobacco defendants,'' Martin Feldman, a tobacco industry analyst at Salomon Smith Barney, said on Tuesday after the ruling. Reuters Wed, 26 Sep 2001 04:00:00 GMT http://www.bloomberg.com/fgcgi.cgi?T=marketsquote99_news.ht&s=AO7H.exXqTG91aXNp http://tobacco.org/news/75399.html Seven jurors accused of bias against the tobacco industry were removed from the trial of a class-action suit by Louisiana smokers, further delaying opening arguments in the case. The Supreme Court of Louisiana yesterday disqualified three jurors and four alternates, in addition to the one juror and one alternate who had previously been dismissed by an appeals court. . . Louisiana's top court ruled that trial Judge Richard Ganucheau abused his discretion when he refused to remove jurors who might be influenced by family members who are former and current smokers. It is unclear how long it will take for Ganucheau to proceed with selecting nine new alternates. It took about one month for lawyers to select the original panel of 12 jurors and 10 alternates. Nine of the 12 jurors must agree to reach a verdict. Bloomberg News Wed, 26 Sep 2001 04:00:00 GMT