On behalf of the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids Action Fund, the American Cancer Society, and other health groups, we were successful in beating back yet another attempt by the tobacco companies to weaken the remedial order issued in the Court's seminal RICO ruling in United States v. Philip Morris USA, Inc., 449 F.Supp.2d 1, 934 (D.D.C. 2006). Agreeing with our arguments, Judge Kessler issued a decision earlier this week rejecting the industry's motion to "clarify" her order. Specifically, the industry proposed that the Court insert language restricting the rights of the Public Health Intervenors to enforce the order in the event the tobacco industry violates the order. Judge Kessler also soundly rejected the tobacco companies' additional arguments that would have weakened the precedential value of the court's findings that the industry committed massive fraud against the public, and would have delayed future efforts to enforce the order's provisions. The opinion, United States v. Philip Morris USA, Inc., Civ. No. 99-2496 (GK) (D.D.C. June 1, 2011), is available here.
Created by the public interest law firm Meyer Glitzenstein & Crystal in Washington, D.C.
