Legal News

The PM Roundup: A Big Loss for Big Tobacco, More . . .

By Ashby Jones

We’re shamelessly devoting this afternoon roundup to ourselves (we swear, this’ll be the one and only time). It’s our birthday. (Go Law Blog, go Law Blog, blog your birthday, go Law Blog.) Happy birthday to all those with May 22 dates of birth past and present, an illustrious list that includes no super-famous lawyers, so far as we can tell, but does include Mary Cassatt, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Laurence Olivier, Richard Wagner, Tommy John and Morrissey.

On with it:

A Big Loss for Big Tobacco: The D.C. Circuit on Friday largely upheld a landmark ruling which found that the tobacco industry violated federal racketeering laws by deceiving the public about the dangers of smoking. The court affirmed most remedies that a trial judge imposed against the tobacco companies, but it rejected the government’s request for additional penalties against cigarette makers. Altria and its Philip Morris unit said in a statement today that they intend to appeal. Reynolds American Inc.'s R.J. Reynolds Tobacco also said it will appeal. Opinion; WSJ; WaPo; Bloomberg.

Prop. 8 Ruling Due Tuesday: The California Supreme Court announced today that it will rule Tuesday on the constitutionality of Proposition 8, the successful November ballot measure that resurrected a ban on same-sex marriage. The ruling, which will be posted at 10 a.m., will also determine whether an estimated 18,000 same-sex marriages will continue to be recognized by the state. LAT; SF Chron.

EBay Wins L’Oreal Trademark Case: A British court on Friday ruled that eBay isn’t liable for bogus beauty products sold on its Web site, dealing a blow to cosmetics company L’Oreal SA’s campaign against the online auction giant. WSJ.

Sentence in Extortion Plan: A Georgia man was sentenced to 100 years in prison for poisoning his children to extort money from Campbell’s Soup Co. William Cunningham was sentenced Thursday after a jury found him guilty on seven counts of aggravated assault for forcing the children in 2006 to eat soup laced with prescription drugs and lighter fluid. AP.

Now, LB Readers, get out of your office and into the sunshine — and have a great three-day weekend.

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on May 22, 2009 (boomark / email).