Posted on 04/20/2005 6:23:29 PM PDT by MisterRepublican
Washington (Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Wednesday refused to reconsider a ruling barring the government from seeking $280 billion in past profits from cigarette makers as part of its civil racketeering case against the industry.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit dealt another setback to the government's case by rejecting a request that the full court review a February ruling by a three-judge panel that concluded the government cannot pursue past industry profits.
In a tied, 3-3 vote, the appeals court judges left standing the Feb. 4 ruling that stripped the government of its strongest penalty in the racketeering case, which charges that tobacco companies lied for decades about the dangers of smoking.
The decision leaves reversed a previous ruling by U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler, the judge presiding over the case that went to trial in September.
In reversing Kessler, the appeals judges concluded that civil racketeering law only allows for "forward-looking" remedies designed to prevent future violations.
"The law that's going to be applied to this case is pretty clear right now," William Ohlemeyer, associate general counsel of Altria Group Inc., said in a telephone briefing.
Kessler said in a court order the appeals court ruling had severely constrained the government's options in obtaining remedies from cigarette makers.
The Justice Department issued a statement saying it would "carefully review its options and make a determination in the near future as to what course of action it will pursue."
The anti-smoking group Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids urged the Justice Department to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court and "continue to pursue the case aggressively."
The appeals court decision comes as lawyers for the tobacco industry are preparing to rest their case. They have been presenting their defense for more than a month.
(Excerpt) Read more at today.reuters.com ...
Next step is, to force the Government to refund all of their illegally taken money to the citizens who actually paid for it.
Good. I find it amazing that the government continues to pretend they are not just as guilty as the tobacco companies.
"The anti-smoking group Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids urged the Justice Department to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court and "continue to pursue the case aggressively."
Aw, too bad for the sanctimonious, money grubbing government.
The anti-smoking group Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids urged the Justice Department to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court and "continue to pursue the case aggressively."
And another group of money grubbers chimes in.
Actually the government has always made more money off of tobacco than anyone else.
April 20, 2005
WASHINGTON (AFP) - A federal appeals court declined to rehear a decision that barred the government from seizing 280 billion dollars in allegedly ill-gotten gains from tobacco companies.
The US government, which had been thwarted by a February 4 ruling by the US Court of Appeals in its bid to recover billions from the industry, had asked for a review by all 12 appellate judges, a so-called "en banc" review.
There was no immediate comment from the Justice Department.
But Altria, whose Philip Morris USA unit is among the defendants, said the decision upholds the original ruling that the so-called "disgorgement" of ill-gotten gains or any other penalty can only be applied if there is proof "that the defendants have engaged in fraudulent behavior in the past and that they are likely to do so in the future."
The suit was initially filed in 1999 by the US Department of Justice against the major tobacco companies, claiming they engaged in a fraudulent pattern of covering up the dangers of tobacco use and marketing to minors.
The three-judge panel said the racketeering law cannot be used in this case, but the Justice Department said it would argue that there is a "long-established line of precedent" to punish unlawful conduct under the statute.
Joel Spivak of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids urged the government to appeal the case to the US Supreme Court.
"A final legal resolution to this issue is critical not only to holding the tobacco industry accountable for decades of deceptive and harmful practices, but also to effective application of the civil (racketeering) law to other wrongdoing, including organized crime and corporate fraud," Spivak said.
"Even if disgorgement is not allowed, the Justice Department has argued persuasively that the trial judge can impose other remedies that would fundamentally reform the tobacco industry's harmful practices and require the industry to pay billions of dollars -- possibly tens or hundreds of billions -- to fund programs to prevent kids from smoking and help smokers quit."
The suit is separate from a settlement struck in 1998 between the tobacco industry and US states that provided more than 250 billion dollars to state governments.
http://story.news.yahoo.com
For the most part, I'd agree with you 100%, Mears, that's it's only about the money. However, in this case it has gotten to the point where the liars are also trying to save face after getting their hand caught illegally in the cookie jar one too many times. They're credibility is just about shot. Ahhh, but greedy bastards never learn, do they?
The Black Market for cigarettes is a very profitable enterprise. If anything, this just lowered my profit margin.
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