Justice Stevens Wins Majority for his Plurality Reasoning in Cipollone
Justice John Paul Stevens wrote a plurality opinion 16 years ago in Cipollone v. Liggett Group that said federal cigarette labeling laws did not bar claims of fraudulent misrepresentation against tobacco companies.
Stevens found four other justices who agreed with that reasoning when he wrote a majority opinion yesterday in Altria Group v. Good, the New York Times reports. Yesterday’s opinion allowed deceptive advertising lawsuits against the makers of light cigarettes.
The court yesterday also rejected Altria’s “backup argument” that actions of the Federal Trade Commission had impliedly pre-empted the plaintiffs’ tobacco suit, the Times says. Plaintiffs allege they were deliberately misled because tobacco companies didn’t disclose that smokers compensate for low tar and nicotine in cigarettes by taking longer puffs.
Alan Untereiner, a lawyer who often represents business groups arguing that pre-emption bars lawsuits, told the Times that Stevens’ most recent decision is “a step backward in the recent trend of making pre-emption law more coherent.”
Legal Times calls yesterday’s ruling a “surprise” decision. It is the second signed opinion of the term. At this same point last year, the Supreme Court had issued five signed opinions, the publication says.
