A federal judge blocked new U.S. rules for enhanced health warnings on cigarette packaging from going into effect, saying the tobacco companies that sued may win their claims that the warnings violate freedom of speech.
U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in Washington ruled today that ordering tobacco companies to display graphic images of diseased lungs and a cadaver bearing chest staples on an autopsy table may “unconstitutionally compel speech.”
Leon granted a request by five tobacco companies seeking to postpone the Sept. 22, 2012, deadline for the regulations to take effect while the court reviews the rule’s constitutionality.
“While the line between the constitutionally permissible dissemination of factual information and the impermissible expropriation of a company’s advertising space for government advocacy can be frustratingly blurry, here — where these emotion-provoking images are coupled with text extolling consumers to call the phone number ‘1-800-QUIT’ — the line seems quite clear,” Leon said in his ruling.
Lorillard, R.J. Reynold Tobacco Co., Commonwealth Brands Inc., Liggett Group LLC and Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Co. sued in August, saying the FDA regulation mandates for cigarette packs, cartons and advertising violate the First Amendment.
