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Legal
Reports
New resource: Tobacco Control and The Takings Clause
The Tobacco Control Legal Consortium has released a new guide that provides information on Tobacco Control and the Takings Clause. The Takings Clause of the U.S. Constitution’s Fifth Amendment allows the government to acquire private property for public use, as long as the landowner is fairly compensated. The Takings Clause may also be relevant to cases in which the government applies laws to the use of private property, such as through retailer licensing, zoning restrictions, or smoke-free policies. The guide provides an overview of common takings challenges to tobacco control policies, explains how courts usually view the claims, and offers tips on how to write policies that are likely to withstand the challenges. This legal guide is part of a series of guides designed to assist organizations interested in implementing tobacco control measures; click here to view a listing of the Legal Consortium’s other toolkits and guides.
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State
Judge keeps alive lawsuit by KY tobacco company challenging DC law banning cigar wrapper sale (DC)
A federal judge is allowing the National Tobacco Company to challenge a District of Columbia law banning the sale of wrapping papers used to make cigars. D.C. lawmakers banned the sale of wrapping papers over concerns that teens were using them to roll large marijuana cigarettes. The tobacco company claimed that the law is too vague to be considered constitutional, and U.S. District Judge Robert Wilkins agreed, saying that the law lacks a clear penalty. Read more here.
Defense victory in Ojeda Engle tobacco trial (FL)
A Florida jury recently decided a lawsuit over a smoker’s death in favor of tobacco company R.J. Reynolds. The plaintiff, Juan Ojeda, smoked much of his life, developed emphysema in 1991, developed lung cancer in 1996, and died shortly after. RJR’s lawyer claimed that the plaintiff’s addiction was not the legal cause of his death, the company was not to blame for the addictive nature of their product, and that Camel cigarettes are no more dangerous than other cigarettes. The jury decided that although Ojeda’s addiction was the legal cause of his emphysema and lung cancer, specifically smoking RJR’s Camel cigarettes was not the legal cause of death. The trial was an Engle progeny case, one of thousands of cases that were part of a class-action lawsuit thrown out by the Florida Supreme Court in 2006. Read more here.
Award swells in tobacco lawsuit (MA)
A Massachusetts Superior Court judge has ruled that a man who won a lawsuit against Lorillard Tobacco Co. last year for the death of his mother can collect the money with interest since 2004, when the case was filed. The interest on the $152 million judgment could double the monetary award. The plaintiff’s mother, Marie Evans, was given free samples of Newport cigarettes by Lorillard at age 9, was addicted by age 13, and continued to smoke throughout her life, despite having suffered a heart attack at age 36. She died of small-cell lung cancer at age 54. Although lawyers for Lorillard argued that Evans knew the dangers of smoking and should have quit smoking, lawyers for Evans’ estate claimed that she had tried to quit over 50 times, but was unable to break an addiction that began during her childhood. Click here for more details.
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National
FDA says judge shouldn't stop cigarette warnings
The FDA has submitted a formal written response to a lawsuit filed by cigarette companies to prevent graphic warning images from appearing on cigarette packs. In its statement, the FDA asserts that cigarette companies should not be granted an injunction by the U.S. District Court. The FDA’s response states that the importance of conveying the dangers of smoking to the public outweighs the cigarette companies’ free speech rights, and the cost for the companies to add the graphic warnings will equal approximately one-tenth of their annual net sales. A hearing for the injunction is set for late September, and a decision may come as early as October. Read more here. According to another recent report, advertising trade groups the Association of National Advertisers and the American Advertising Federation have joined the tobacco companies in the lawsuit to oppose the graphic cigarette warning labels, saying that the labels infringe on commercial free speech. Related: Health groups weigh in on cigarette label suit Several public health groups have filed an amicus brief with the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. to support the FDA’s graphic warnings, saying that tobacco products should carry health messages that will change consumer behavior and adequately warn about the health effects of tobacco use. Learn more by clicking here.
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