Appeals Court Won’t Review Ruling on Tobacco Penalty
An appeals court won’t reconsider its decision barring the Justice Department from seeking $280 billion in a lawsuit against cigarette companies.
In a vote Wednesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit divided 3 to 3 on whether to reconsider the case, according to a Justice Department spokesman.
Officials said the government had not decided whether to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court.
“The United States will carefully review its options and make a determination in the near future as to what course of action it will pursue,†said Associate Atty. Gen. Robert D. McCallum Jr.
In the case, filed in 1999 under a federal racketeering statute, the government alleges that cigarette makers conspired for decades to deceive the public about the dangers of smoking. A trial began in U.S. District Court in September and is ongoing.
The Justice Department last month asked the full court to reconsider a panel’s 2-1 decision that the government could not seek the huge penalty. The panel decided the government was limited to “forward-looking†remedies and that disgorgement -- or the seeking of money allegedly earned through fraudulent means -- was not one.
Representatives of the cigarette companies did not return phone calls or had no comment.
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
