Court Rules in Favor of Philip Morris

Washington - The big tobacco company Philip Morris won a victory in court today when the Supreme Court threw out a case against the company. This decision is not only good news for Philip Morris, but for all businesses, especially larger companies that are frequently sued for huge dollar amounts, and have been seeking tougher laws on frivolous, fraudulent, and high dollar lawsuits.

The lawsuit was originally heard in Oregon and the ruling was upheld by the state's higher courts at $800,000 in compensatory damages, and $79.5 million punitive damages. The widowed plaintiff, Mayola Williams, filed the lawsuit as a dying wish of her husband, a smoker who died of complications from 'smoking related illnesses' and lung cancer, after smoking several packs per day for most of his life.

Williams was determined to see the lawsuit through all the way to the Supreme Court, seeking what she called justice for her husband. The Supreme Court initially seemed unsure as to whether the case should be heard or remanded to the state courts, but did eventually choose to hear the appeal at the highest court.

In a 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court's decision to overturn the lower court's ruling was a small victory for Philip Morris USA, who contested the Oregon court's decision to uphold the ruling. The Supreme Court, however, did not rule on whether the punitive damages were unconstitutionally excessive, which was something Philip Morris had asked them to do. An opinion on the amount of punitive damages would have been a landmark and precedent setting opinion for all big businesses, but the justices did not comment on this aspect of the case.

The Philip Morris Supreme Court case made international news today when the BBC picked up the story. (Retrieved February 20, 2007, from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6379767.stm) AP carried the story on the newswire, as well as breaking news headlines on new media outlet sites such as MSNBC.COM, CNN.COM, and other major news organization.

The 5-4 decision broke down as follows:

Dissenting Justices: Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Antonin Scalia, John Paul Stevens, Clarence Thomas.