Appeals Court Stays Tobacco Sanctions

Without issuing a written opinion, the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, on October 31, 2006, stayed a trial court ruling which would have required the big tobacco companies to refrain from using "light," "low tar," and similar phrases in their advertising of so called "light" cigarettes.  In addition to the advertising sanctions, trial court Judge Gladys Kessler's underlying order would have required the tobacco companies to make costly corrective public statements about the harmful effects of smoking cigarettes.  In the absence of the stay, the companies would have had to comply with the prohibition on advertising phrases and taken the other corrective measures by January 1.  The stay by the appeals court allows the tobacco companies to avoid spending millions of dollars complying with the order while they try to convince the appeals court to reverse Judge Kessler's ruling altogether.