Tobacconist's Victory
If you ask me, this is good news.
I'm not sure what "crippling continue" is supposed to mean. Anyway, why is this good news? It means that big business can't be forced to pay for every little thing that ails Americans. Big Tobacco has done a lot of bad stuff in the last forty years; some of it downright evil. That doesn't mean that everyone who dies of lung cancer should get a massive settlement out of the tobacco companies.
Smoking and chewing are a disgusting habits, plain and simple, and I pity anyone stupid enough to start doing them. However, that's a choice everyone makes for themself. People have known for a long time now that tobacco isn't good for you; I have no sympathy for anyone who gets sick as a result of using it. Are the side effects horrible? Yeah; but the fact that it's your own decision to start negates almost all responsibility held by tobacco companies.
The companies exist because a market exists for their products, not because they're big evil capitalist corporations. I don't like them any more than the next guy, but that doesn't mean they should be forced to pay for everyone who gets sick on account of being stupid enough to start using their products.
A federal appeals court on Friday ruled that the Justice Department cannot force cigarette makers to pay up to $280 billion in past profits as part of its racketeering case against the industry.
The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled 2-1 that federal law does not provide for the monetary "disgorgement" penalty the government is seeking as part of the case that went to trial in September.
"We hold that the language of [the racketeering law] and the comprehensive remedial scheme of [the racketeering law] preclude disgorgement as a possible remedy in this case," the opinion of the majority said.
The decision comes in the midst of a monthslong trial in U.S. District Court on the government's lawsuit contending the industry knew about the health dangers of smoking but hid that information from the public. The trial will crippling continue while the government considers an appeal.
I'm not sure what "crippling continue" is supposed to mean. Anyway, why is this good news? It means that big business can't be forced to pay for every little thing that ails Americans. Big Tobacco has done a lot of bad stuff in the last forty years; some of it downright evil. That doesn't mean that everyone who dies of lung cancer should get a massive settlement out of the tobacco companies.
Smoking and chewing are a disgusting habits, plain and simple, and I pity anyone stupid enough to start doing them. However, that's a choice everyone makes for themself. People have known for a long time now that tobacco isn't good for you; I have no sympathy for anyone who gets sick as a result of using it. Are the side effects horrible? Yeah; but the fact that it's your own decision to start negates almost all responsibility held by tobacco companies.
The companies exist because a market exists for their products, not because they're big evil capitalist corporations. I don't like them any more than the next guy, but that doesn't mean they should be forced to pay for everyone who gets sick on account of being stupid enough to start using their products.
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