Could the battle over a federal rule requiring prominent warnings on cigarette boxes and other tobacco product packaging be headed for the U.S. Supreme Court?

Last year, the Food and Drug Administration unveiled a series of graphic labels – featuring images such as a man exhaling cigarette smoke through a tracheotomy hole, cancerous mouth sores and a post-autopsy cadaver – that tobacco companies would be required to place prominently on its products under the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act.

But the companies sued in federal court, claiming the labeling requirement violated their First Amendment rights. Friday, the D.C. Circuit created an appellate split by ruling in the tobacco companies’ favor – a decision at odds with a 6^th Circuit ruling in March holding that there was no violation. The split makes the issue ripe for Supreme Court consideration.

More on the regulations and appellate decisions from Lawyers USA.

This entry was posted on Monday, August 27th, 2012 at 7:29 am and is filed under Federal Agencies, Federal Courts, Supreme Court. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.