STATEMENT OF EDWARD L. SWEDA, JR., SENIOR ATTORNEY FOR THE TOBACCO PRODUCTS LIABILITY PROJECT (TPLP), ON THE DECISION OF THE SUPREME COURT OF CALIFORNIA IN THE PEOPLE ex rel. BILL LOCKYER as Attorney General, etc., v. R.J. REYNOLDS TOBACCO CO.

The Supreme Court of California properly ruled today that federal law does not pre-empt the authority of states to prohibit the tobacco companies’ practice of distributing free cigarette samples.  The court ruled that state regulation of nonsale distribution of cigarettes “would not conflict with the congressional purpose” described in the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act (FCLAA) in 1965: to ensure that “commerce and the national economy” are “not impeded by diverse, nonuniform, and confusing cigarette labeling and advertising regulations with respect to any relationship between smoking and health.”  TPLP welcomes the Supreme Court of California’s firm rejection of R.J. Reynolds’ overly expansive interpretation of the pre-emption language contained in the FCLAA.  

 

            This ruling will also help other states and localities around the country withstand any future challenges to similar laws.     

 

            The Supreme Court of California also struck down the $14.8 million fine assessed against R.J. Reynolds because the lower courts did not consider the issue of whether the company had acted, at least in some degree, in good faith with regard to its communication with the Attorney General about the illegal distribution of their free cigarette samples.  After it conducts an evidentiary hearing in the near future, the trial court could once again impose a significant fine against R.J. Reynolds for its illegal distribution of free cigarette samples.