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Article Excerpt
The Department of Justice sued Philip Morris and other major tobacco companies in federal court in the late 1990s for violating the RICO statute by intentionally defrauding the American public through their marketing practices. The government alleged that the companies had sold cigarettes as "light," "ultra light," "low tar," and "natural," all the while knowing that these cigarettes pose no less risk of adverse health effects than do full-flavored cigarettes.
The tobacco companies contested their liability, arguing that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) had sanctioned the use of descriptors such as "light" and "low tar," and that because they were "authorized" to use these terms, they could not be held liable for deceptive marketing practices under RICO.
The court rejected these arguments. Federal Judge Gladys Kessler found that no FTC regulation or federal statute had expressly sanctioned the tobacco companies' use of these descriptors. In August 2006, Kessler held that the tobacco industry had engaged in a decades-long conspiracy to...
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