|
Appeals Court Upholds
Landmark Ruling Against Tobacco Firms
The Wall Street Journal
By BRENT KENDALL
WASHINGTON -- A federal appeals court Friday upheld
major points of a landmark ruling that said the tobacco
industry violated federal racketeering laws in a scheme
to deceive the public about the dangers of smoking.
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court
of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected,
however, the Justice Department's request for additional
penalties against cigarette makers, including a proposal
that the tobacco industry fund a $10 billion national
smoking-cessation campaign.
Defendants in the case included Altria
Group Inc.'s Philip Morris subsidiary, Reynolds American
Inc., British American Tobacco PLC and Lorillard Inc.
Murray Garnick, an Altria senior vice
president, said the company disagreed with the ruling
and would appeal. Altria could first ask for a review
of the case by the entire D.C. appeals court.
Spokesmen for the other companies could
not immediately be reached for a comment.
In a unanimous 92-page ruling, the court
said Friday there was ample evidence to conclude the
tobacco industry intentionally deceived the public about
the harmful and addictive effects of cigarette smoking.
The court affirmed most of the remedies
imposed against tobacco companies in 2006 by U.S. District
Court Judge Gladys Kessler following a nine-month trial,
including a ban on promoting brands as "light"
or "low tar." Judge Kessler's ruling also
required the industry to make corrective public statements
about the health effects and addictiveness of smoking.
"[T]he court's conclusions are not
supported by the law or the evidence presented at trial,
and we believe the exceptional importance of these issues
justifies further review," Altria's Mr. Garnick
said.
The case dates back to 1999, when the
Clinton administration filed a federal racketeering
lawsuit against nine tobacco companies and two trade
associations, alleging they had engaged in a 50-year
conspiracy to deceive the public about the dangers of
smoking.
The court on Friday said the tobacco companies
"knew about the negative health consequences of
smoking, the addictiveness and manipulation of nicotine,
the harmfulness of secondhand smoke, and the concept
of smoker compensation, which makes light cigarettes
no less harmful than regular cigarettes and possibly
more."
The court further said the government
had adequately proved that the tobacco industry was
likely to commit future racketeering violations unless
restrictions were imposed. But it also affirmed an earlier
ruling that the government could not force the industry
to forfeit as much as $280 billion in profits.
Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign
for Tobacco-Free Kids, said the ruling was a "tremendous
victory for public health," but that the court's
refusal to allow additional remedies was disappointing.
Deputy Attorney General David Ogden said
the ruling validated the government's position that
"the tobacco companies deceived the American people."
|
954.777.1111
